Monster Girl Quest Requiem
by ArmoredDiclonius
Summary: A boy wakes up in an unfamiliar land with no recollection of how he arrived there. Making his way through this unfamiliar land he encounters an odd women in the forest in the need of a hand. Helping her sets the cogs of fate into motion, forever changing the fates of who he and his partner encounter.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 : An Odd Awakening

The sounds of birds and the wind dancing through the trees woke him from his stupor. Groaning, he forced open his eyes into a slit. Though blurry, he could make out trees, shrubbery and his legs laying before him. Putting some weight in his back, he felt the hard, rough surface of what he could only predict was the trunk of another tree. Would have been easy to turn around and confirm it, but he couldn't draw any motivation to do so. Everything was stiff, like he just slept on a bed of rocks for hours. He sat there, opening his eyes more and more as time went by, trying to bring the world around him into focus.

After fully opening his eyes, he took a deep breath and placed his palms on the ground to push himself up, only for his right hand to land right on top of a cold, metal pole. Sighing, knowing he wouldn't be able to ignore it, he looked down, groaning all the way. He couldn't help but raise his brows in surprise when he saw a dark steel scythe. The pole was straight but made of vine like metal that twisted, like rope, all the way up to the twin, 100cm (40in) blades. _Masters scythe…,_ he thought, _why is it here?_

Grabbing the two-meter (78in) weapon, he pulled himself to his feet with a grunt, using the scythe to balance himself. He quickly checked himself over for injuries or abnormalities, only to find dirt and leaves. Content, he dusted himself off and made a makeshift holster out of some vines on the tree he was lying on and put the scythe on his back after he stretched out.

"Ok, now where the hell am I and how did I get here?" he thought out loud. Looking around, all he could see were more trees, bushes and the occasional animal life, manly birds and rodents. _Defiantly a forest, so I can't be on Hellgondo._ Sighing, he walked over to a tree and looked up before jumping up to the nearest branch and working his way to the top.

Landing on the tallest branch, he looked in a 360 degree spin. " Aaaaaand nothing but more forest…great", he scoffed and he dropped to a squat. _What would master want me to do in this situation..._ the boy thought. After sitting for 10 minutes he gave a shout of annoyance while ruffling his snow white hair. Placing his back against the trunk of the tree, he looked up at the sun through the remaining canopy. _Suns not quite at its highest…so around a little before noon._

While looking up, his nose started twitching. _Wait…is that smoke?_ His eyes wide, he jumped to his feet and spun around towards the direction the breeze was coming from. "That way!" He exclaimed now seeing a small pillar of smoke just coming up above the trees. He jumped down from the tree, landing in a crouch. He grabbed his bag and headed off toward the smoke.

After traveling for an hour he reached the source of the smoke. It was a small camp fire with three people around, two females and one male. Relieved, the white haired boy came out of the brush. The girls seemed to be laughing about something while eating a mutton of some kind while the guy was…tied up?

The boy stopped in his tracts only for his last step to be on a stick which snapped under his weight. The girls turned from their conversation, still smiling. Once they noticed him, their smiles turn into wide grins.

 _Ooohhh, they are monsters. Should have noticed from the pointed ears._ The boy thought critiquing himself.

The girls got up from the log they were sitting on and made their way to the boy. One of the girls, the shorter one, was a little taller than the boy, standing at a meter and a half (59in) with dark tan, dark green hair in a ponytail with short brown horns poking out and brown eyes. _Think she's a hobgoblin maybe?_ The second one was at least 2 meters tall with light tan skin, long red hair with horns coming out of her forehead and green eyes. _And an ogre girl! Never seen one of her species around the castle._

Smiling, the boy made his way to them at the same pace they moved to him. They seemed to falter for a second, seeing the lack of fear in his stride, but continued. After the boy and the girls stood within a meter of each other they stopped.

"Hello little boy," the hobgoblin cooed, "what's a young guy like you doing so far out here in the forest? You are a little faraway from a city."

"Hm", the ogre hummed in agreement", it's not safe for little boys like you!" She teased, "mean monsters could find you." She finished with a predatory smirk.

"Like us!" The hobgoblin said in a playful tone, making them both break into chuckles.

The boy looked at both of the girls in brief confusion before seeming to realize something and gave a quick chuckle. "Sorry! I keep forgetting other monsters can't tell." He laughed rubbing the back of his head. The monsters gave him a quizzical look while he closed his eyes. When his eyes reopened, they were not longer sky blue, but a deep crimson with slitted pupils.

"My name is Darkrai. Sorry but I'm not a human, I'm a vampire.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: A Fated Meeting

Darkrai and the two monster girls stood there, staring at each other in the clearing. Darkrai stood confident, with a welcoming smile on his face and an outstretched hand. The girls, on the other hand, stood there completely dumbfounded, seeming to not even notice his gestor of goodwill. Both parties stood like that, unmoving, for almost a full minute before the girls turned to look at each other. Then, they burst into a fit of hysterical laughter causing Darkrai to jump.

"Vampire he says!" the short hobgoblin wheezed through her cackling, falling on her back in the process.

"Screw that! He says he's monster!" The ogre howled in her deep voice while clutching her stomach, "That's rich!"

Darkrai watched the two confused, rubbing his eyes to check if perhaps they were covered. After confirming that his eyes, indeed, were in full view to the world, he pointed to them. "Uh, hello my eyes? Sure they might not prove I'm a vampire but no human has eyes like this!" He retorted annoyed at the girls.

"Oh please" the ogre girl chuckled, just starting to come out of her fit. "Any human can get an enchantment to change a physical feature. But it's easy for us to tell that you are bullshitting."

"And how would that be?" Darkrai asked crossing his arms, interested ,but still very annoyed, in figuring out why these two couldn't believe his birthright.

"Your scent", the goblin girl said cheekily while sitting up tapping her nose. "You don't smell anything like any monster for one thing." Then she began chuckling again in her high pitch voice again. "Plus, a male monster? That's just stupid!", she said before breaking into another laughing fit.

The ogre girl was bit more composed than the hobgoblin now, but still had a huge shit eating grin on her face. "Now now Kali, we had our fun. Let's just get him and get rid of that fear of his. He must be scared out of his poor little mind if he's making tales like that."

The hobgoblin, Kali, jumped up with a predatory glint in her eyes and nodded with a hum of agreement, "I like that idea Nikki." Kali purred," but this one's mine, he's cute~. Besides, you got that one we got back on the road" she said throwing her thumb back at the tied up human. With that, the monsters closed that gap between them and Darkrai. The ogre, Nikki, slipping behind him quickly to prevent him from running while Kali made her way to be toe to toe with him. She stared down at slightly shorter boy with a hungry and lustful look in her eye, causing him to back up, only to run back first into Nikki . He looked up to see her looking down at him with an amused smile before giving him a shove into Kali's open arms which clasped around him as he fell into her chest. Darkrai gave a gasp as the air in his lungs was pushed out by her arms wrapping around him into a tight hug.

Having him trapped in a bear hug, Kali was confident that the boy wouldn't be able to escape her strength. She glanced down at her prey to admire her cute catch only to see his previous red eyes now back to sky blue staring back up at her, quivering with what she could only believe to be fear, causing her heart to flutter.

 _By the first he's so fucking cute,_ she thought while failing to fight back a blush. Giving in a little, she loosened up her grip. "Don't be so scared cutie. I'm neeever going to hurt you," she cooed gently. "You'll have a cozy little home, cute wife, and you'll never go hungry! Also…" She lowered her head slightly, just enough to place her lips right beside his ear. "I'll make you feel reeeaaaally good ~", she whispered into his ear with every ounce of lust she could drip into it.

Her coo seemed to calm her soon-to-be-husband down, as Kali couldn't feel him shaking anymore. In fact, Kali could feel his arms snaking up her back and grabbing onto her fur vest, just below her neck while he nestled his head into the nap of her neck. Bewildered at how her seduction was working and how cute Darkrai's reaction was, Kali made a small squeak while looking up at the tall ogre in excitement. Nikki couldn't help but chuckle as she looked down with crossed arms giving her companion a nod of approval.

She was knocked out of her dreamy state when Darkrai started speaking, "That's kind of you to offer", he spoke out in a monotone tone into Kali's neck. This caused the ogre to look down in confusion while Kali began to break out into a beaming smile thinking he was accepting her. "Because I'm actually…" he said bringing his mouth to her neck, just above the collar bone. "…quite parched." He finished, just before his eyes went red and he dug his fangs into her neck.

After Darkrai finished his meal, apologies were given between him and Nikki. Nikki for not believing him and Darkrai for making a light meal out of her companion. He couldn't yet apologize to the hobgoblin as she had passed out with a very satisfied look on her face. Nikki picked her up under her arm and offered Darkrai a seat at the fire pit while she put Kali on one of the bed roles before grabbing a bag and sitting down next to him.

"Again, sorry not believing you. Me and Kali have never seen or even heard of a male monster before." Nikki apologized handing Darkrai a small pouch of dried meat. "I'm Nikki by the way." He accepted it with a thanks, "Well I don't blame you, the only other male monsters I know is my master and one of the Monster Lords retainers." He responded taking a bite of the jerky. "And master said we were the only male monsters on Hellgondo. He didn't know for the other continents though."

"Hellgondo?" Nikki said with an incredulous look. "You are from Hellgondo?"

"Yeah", He confirmed reaching for another piece of meat." Me and master live in the Vampire's castle up in the mountains…that reminds me, where are we?"

"Wait, you don't even know where you are?" Nikki questioned with a raised brow, "how long have you been here?"

"I actually have no idea." Darkrai replied honestly, "I just woke up a couple hours ago with no idea of how I got here. All I have his this bag, my masters scythe and the clothes on my back."

"Damn, well I hate to tell you this but you aren't anywhere near Hellgondo kid. You're on Ilias Continent."

He blinked. "I'm sorry, I must have heard you wrong. It sounded like you said we are on…"

"Ilias continent," she reaffirmed, "you heard right kid."

Darkrai simply stared blankly at her for a solid minute before his face slowly contorted into something of a scowl. He closed his eyes and took a sharp inhale and slowly let out an exhale.

Nikki stared at him, slight concern showing on her face. "Kid, are you alri…" was all she could get before he quickly stood up and shouted, causing both the man tied up and Nikki to fall back in surprise.

"HOW IN THE FIRST'S NAME DID I END UP HERE OF ALL PLACES!?"

After his outburst, he dropped back on the log and gave a deep sigh before dropping is head into his hands. Nikki stared at the boy, cautious for another outburst. Seeing that he was seemingly calmer, she reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey no need to get so upset, that will just make things more difficult for ya."

Darkrai gave another sigh and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I know. It just doesn't make any sense. I mean, the last thing I remember was walking with my master in the courtyard at Dark Sanctuary, then he handed me…" Darkrai brought his bag up in one arm, "…this bag. Then…then I don't know, that's all I remember."

Nikki stared quizzically at the boy, "Dark Sanctuary? Guessing that's the Vampire castle?" Darkrai nodded, still looking intently at the large, dark leather nap sack. "Ok, well do you remember what you him were talking about? Or how about that bag? What's in it?" Nikki asked.

Darkrai furrowed his pale brows trying to recall. "We were…talking about my future training and my current progress…and something about training on my own one day." He looked down at the bag and reached in only to pull out a thick, black leather bound book covered in archaic runes. "And this is apparently what's in the bag." Both Nikki and Darkrai stared with interest while he examined the book's outside, trying to find words not in a magical tongue. After a few moments of looking he opened the heavy book only for a folded piece of parchment to fall out. Surprised and curious, he reached down and open the loose paper.

"What is it?" Nikki asked leaning over to see its contents to see small wall of text. Darkrai broke into a beaming smile, "It's a letter from my master!" Darkrai said scanning over the letter, confusion creeping up on his face, "…well it's more like instructions." Nikki stared at the boy, waiting for him to continue. Getting annoyed at the prolonged silence, he huffed at him. "Well? What does it say? Any clues or anything?"

His once beaming smile was now contorted into something of a scowl and a look of confusion. Putting the letter down he looked up at Nikki. "No, nothing about how I got here or why. He just says that this book has everything I need for the rest of my training." He put the letter back in the book and put it in the bag before throwing the bag on the ground, agitated. "He also said he will be gone for a while, but he didn't say why…" Throwing his arms up he began furiously ruffling his hair, "Why is nothing making any sense!? I have more questions than answers!"

Nikki moved closer to Darkrai on the log and patted him reassuringly on the back. "Well look on the bright side, at least you have a program he gave you to follow!" Darkrai signed and brought put his arms in is lap, still looking downtrodden. "Yeah, I guess…". Nikki broke into a big smile and wrap her huge, muscular arm around his shoulder. "Besides! It's a good learning experience for kids like you! I mean, my mom kicked me out in my teens and I'm a better monster for it", she said with pride puff her chest out. "But I'm only 13 and I don't know anything about continents other than Hellgondo save for a few area's in Sentora." Nikki raised an eyebrow? "You are only 13?" She asked skeptically. "I knew you were still a kid, but you seem pretty mature for a babe just off the teat." Darkrai gave a small, dry chuckle and said, " yeah, I guess I am…", but nothing more.

Nikki, once again uncomfortable in the awkward silence moved to say something when she heard Kali stirring. She turned to see her companion stretching while walking over to the two of them. "Man that was good cat nap!" Kali forced out mid stretch with her hands above her head. She looked at Nikki with a smile before you noticed Darkrai with his back still turned to her. Kali's face quickly became flustered as she remembered events from the hour before. She walked quietly up behind him, earning her a raised brow from Nikki, and draped her arm around his shoulders cause him to jump. "Why heeellloooo there cutie~" she purred playfully. "Glad to see you still sticking around me and sis." Darkrai bent his head back and looked between the two girls. "Wait, sis? You two are sisters?" Darkrai asked in mild surprise.

"Yea, didn't I mention?" Nikki replied, "We have the same father so we are half related." Annoyed that her advances were ignored, Kali puffed her cheeks momentarily before adding on, "but even so, we always treated each other like full blooded sis's, ain't that right sis?" She exclaimed happily before throwing her arms around her sister's waist. Nikki laughed in agreement and rubbed her sister behind her horns, getting her a happy hum from Kali.

Darkrai couldn't help but chuckle at the two sister's relationship, appreciating the distraction. Kali opened her eyes at his chuckle and made eye contacted with him. She blushed out of embarrassment and batted her sister's hands away before taking a seat between the two, still beet red. Nikki gave a hardy laugh at her sisters bashfulness and turned back to Darkrai. "So what are you going to do?" Darkrai turned to face her, "I mean, you are quite far from Hellgondo, you don't know anything about Ilias Continent and I'm guessing you don't have anybody you know here ether, do you?" Darkrai looked down, shaking his head.

Nikki gave a small sigh and nudged her sister who was still staring longingly at the fair haired boy. Kali quickly turned to her sis, cheeks still rosy. Nikki nodded to Darkrai, making Kali tilt her head slightly before perking up, realizing what her sis was implying. She quickly jumped up and stood in front of Darkrai making him look up from his thoughts. "Weeeeeelll, if you don't have anywhere else to go…" She started," Why don't you join me and sis! We made a small home in a cave in the mountains not too far from here! We were heading back there with sis's new man here and you ran into us."

Darkrai stared up at Kali wide eyed. After a couple moments he gave her a warm smile, sending her heart a flutter. "I appreciate the offer you two, I really do." He said softly, making both the girls smile at each other,"…but I'll have to decline." Kali spun back around to him, "Huh?!" She couldn't help but shout, "But why!?" Darkrai heaved a sigh, "Don't get me wrong, being with you two sounds fun and all, but I have a feeling that I'd be too..."His eyes drifted over to Kali, earning him a confused look from her, "…distracted to focus on training." Nikki gave a sad, but knowing nod while Kali seemed confused. "Training? Training for what?"

Darkrai reached behind him and pulled the scythe up from the log he propped it on. Admiring his masters weapon, "I'm training under my master to be a scythe meister, though my training scythe was a lot smaller," he admitted chuckling.

Nikki had gotten a good look at it before but didn't think much about it until he picked it up. The thing was over twice his size, yet he was lifting it with one hand like it was nothing. She was about to ask about it when Kali burst in, "Well you can still do that with us can't you? We wouldn't get in your way when you ask for space!" she pleaded.

"It's not that easy sis", Nikki chimed in placing a hand on her sis's head as she spoke. "When you are learning to become a master of a weapon or fighting style it takes an immense amount of time and concentration. He needs a quiet place if he's going to be teaching himself." Kali looked up at her sis then to Darkrai who was nodded his head.

"That's why I need to find someplace I can hide but still be close enough to a village or something for food and other basics." Darkrai added on. Kali and Nikki looked at each other confused. Nikki looked backed to him and asked, "But wouldn't take ruin the point of looking for a quiet place to train? Humans are loud and annoying in their congregations." Nikki inquired, "Wouldn't it make more sense just to get one or two and keep them for food?" Darkrai face twisted, "I don't like the idea of keep someone against their will. I don't mind others want to, I understand and all," he said gesturing towards the man," but I don't feel… comfortable doing so. That's why I want to be near a village or something."

Kali couldn't help but gawk at Darkrai's odd declaration. Nikki, once again, couldn't help but chuckle at her sis's reaction but still nodded in understanding. "Well I know a place not too far from here that's like that," Nikki said throwing her thumb at the bound and gagged man, "same place this guy was going actually," causing the man to look up at the three, looking tired and confused at his mention. "He was heading to Ilias Village. It's quiet from what I know, away from any of the big cities," Nikki began, "though its where Ilias's temple is so it's a big place for "Hero's". So most of the monsters here generally try to say away. Besides," she said face contorting and sticking her tongue out slightly," That's where they baptize people which makes the men taste awful." Nikki finished causing Kali to make a similar face.

Darkrai covered his mouth to laugh at the girl's odd faces, "Well I don't really care about the flavor, but from your faces it sounds like it might take some getting used to." Darkrai chuckled rising to his feet. "I guess it's at least worth checking out, don't really have many other options save for finding my way back to Hellgondo." He finished with a shrug.

Kali moved to say something but was cut off by Nikki, "Well if that's what you want to do, then go ahead. Just know that you'll be welcome to come join us if you need a different place to stay." Kali perked up as her sister finished and bounced to Darkrai's side. "Yea! So make sure to come by once you get bored ok?"

Darkrai gave a small smile, "thanks you two. It's nice to have options." He admitted," But why be so kind to a stranger? I mean, we literally just met little over an hour ago. Why offer me your home for nothing?"

Kali began giggling. "What makes you think that it would be free? We'd work ya, though I'm sure you'd enjoy it." Still confused, he looked over at Nikki who covered her mouth while chuckling herself. "Let's just say that you'd help us not go hungry." Darkrai sat there a moment, still confused. "Wait, how would I…" He stopped, suddenly realizing what they meant. He broke into a bright blush, "Ah, right." His flustered expression was the tipping point for the girls, making them break out into another hysterical fit of laughter which only made Darkrai's blush turn all the more crimson.

After hour of chat and a meal, Darkrai and the sisters parted ways but not before Nikki gave him directions to the road leading to Ilias village which was about a 5 hour walk away. So he got out the book his master gave him and began his walk.

When he was about an hour outside of Ilias village, he took a break to walk down to a nearby pond for a drink and to grab some dinner. As he walked down the small hill to the pond he stopped and ducked into the foliage, hearing voices down near the waters edge. Slowing making his way as close as possible without being seen, he saw the voices owners.

There was a small band of seven human males surrounding a woman and a small, very scared boy, her child most likely. The males ranged in size and completion but all had the same dirty stench about them. They seemed to be laughing and sneering at the women but he couldn't tell what about. He slowly made his way closer, being sure not to be spotted, curious to what was going on. As he reached the brush 5 meters from them he stopped and listened.

"Is ur fault fur cuming o'ut ere alon now isn et?" The fattest of the bunch said jabbing his black nailed finger in the women's direction.

"Aye, is er fault with'outta dout Butch. Oy mean, ith all dem monstas out, yous lucky wes da ones dat founded yas furst." A very dirty blonde haired man said.

"Please just leave us alone!" the woman said more defensive than scared, "Me and my son don't want any trouble." Darkrai couldn't help but be slightly impressed at the woman's apparent courage. Seven to one and she's still holding firm.

"Wells me an da bois can't do dat meh luv." The fat one said in a fake apologetic tone, "Dat 'ould be awful rude of us 'ere men see? Wes won't be wan'ing ya to 'et lost or 'urt now woulds we's boi's?" He finished gesturing to the rest of the foul men who laughed almost sadistically agreeing with the fat one.

The women stuck the boy further behind her, still holding a strong countenance though looking slightly desperate looking for a way out of her dilemma. "What do you want with us?" She said still trying to hold her bravado, gaining more respect from Darkrai.

The fat one smiled, showing all of this few, yellow teeth. " Wells, since yous ask'n, I's tell ya da truth." He took a step closer causing her to take a step back and making the small boy whimper, calling to out to his mom in a barely audible, terrified voice. "First, wes all gonna 'ake turns 'aking care of yous. But don't yous 'orry, wez gonna be real careful 'ith cha, don't wanna damage da merchandise, heh heh." The woman's face didn't change from his vulgar statement other than a brief look of disgust before she slightly turned her to see her son. The fat one took note of that and smiled, "an don't chu worry youz pretty head 'bout da boy. Wez gonna 'ake sure 'es taken care of sumthing proper."

After the fat one revealed his plan, Darkrai was fuming, grinding his teeth in an attempt not to leap out and decapitate the fat, ugly beast. _Such disgusting creatures,_ Darkrai thought to himself,

That caused the woman to lock her gaze on the man, for the first time showing fear on her face which only made than man smile more before continuing. "Yea, we'z gotta make sure da boi is looking good cus wes gonna sell em. Small, cute boi 'ike dat gonna make some good gold 'ith one of dem monsta girls or maybe on of dem pedos in da city."

The woman now seemed to be both seething and terrified. She put her hand behind her to take a firm grasp on her son's shoulder, pushing him further into her back. Desperate, she began looking around for a way to tell her son to run before she threw herself at them to buy her son some time. As she was looking around, slowly loosing hope, she noticed something coming out of the brush behind the men. It looked to be another man…no, boy, hardly into his teenage years, coming at them wielding a large war scythe much longer than the boy himself was.

One of the men saw her surprised look and turned to see what she was staring at. Seeing the boy, he patted the fat one and gestured towards the new white haired boy. The fat man gave another huge, yellow smile. "Well boiz, seems ta meh dat we gottas some maor pocket mon'y ta'day. 'ucky us eh boiz?" Most of the men turned to see kid walking up to them while the others kept their drooling faces locked on the women.

As Darkrai was almost to the group, the blonde walked up to the him and bent down so that he mere inches, face to face with the blued eyed teen. "Oooooohhh, yous got sum purdy ey's on ya kid" , he said eying Darkrai over before churning into a ugly grin, "dem prudy blue's can gets us sum' good gold." Some of the men laughed at the statement while the others laughed out a hardy aye. Darkrai looked amongst the seven men, his look of distain growing darker at each man. Finally, he turned to the blonde directly in front of him. The blonde man seemed to finally take notice of the scythe and raised an eyebrow with a low whistle, "Dat's a prudy big toy yeez gots 'here kid." The blonde reached out towards the Scythe, "hows 'bout youz just 'ive it to me, kids don't be need'n…"

That was all the man could say before he fell backwards, giving a bloodcurdling scream in pain and surprise as most of his arm dropped to the ground in front of him. The few men previously look at the women quickly turned, startled at their companion's outcry while the men who watched the act looked on astonished. Darkrai brought the blade of the huge scythe to his face and gave a long, slow lick, while staring at the men with his crimson, slitted eyes narrowed into a predatory death stare. Though quickly his eyes went wide as he spat out repeatedly, looking he was near vomiting. "By the First, that was nasty!" Darkrai screeched quickly swatting at his tongue with his free hand. The men just stood there, weapons now drawn in confusion.

Still in obvious discomfort, Darkrai put his tongue back in his mouth, mumbling something about dirty dish water then turning to the blonde man who was now back on his feet, weapon drawn. Darkrai perked his brow, looking over the scrawny, one armed blonde. The blonde was seething, pointing his old, rusty sword towards Darkrai. "How fucking dare youz!" The blonde screamed in pure rage, "Ima fucking gut youz', ya 'ear me!" After finishing the man dashed at Darkrai, sword above his head, screaming as he brought his sword down only for Darkrai to swat it away with the back of his hand. The man starred, speechless, as his sword landed blade first into the ground several meters away. He looked back over at the kid just in time to see the scythe's blade pierce his face. The white hair boy gave a small chuckle in satisfaction as he lifted his leg and kicked the corpse off his weapon.

All the men stood still as their companion's body fell to the grass. The woman starred at the boy in awe, still shielding her son from the scene. Darkrai lifted his large scythe effortlessly with one arm to rest its twisted polearm on his shoulder. He looked towards the fat man, who he presumed was the head of the band of misfits. "So I know I might be a little late in my question," the boy shouted at the fat man while point to the blondes corpse with his head, "but what exactly are you boys doing to those two." The men all move towards the boy, surrounding him but being warry not to get too close. The fat man on the other hand stayed nearer to his original targets to not let them escape in the confusion. "I'd bez telling yaz," the fat man barked, "but iz not making 'uch senses to talk toz a dead man. Gut him boys! For Greg!

All the men began rushing at Darkrai at the same time at their bosses demand, yelling at the top of their lungs. Darkrai quickly brought his scythe to the ready, "Not much in the way of manners are you guys?" he joked under his breath.

Darkrai waited for the first man to get within his range and quickly jumped over his attack onto his back with the rest of the men close behind him. Quickly decapitating the poor bastard, he grab the head and flipped off the man's back, kicking it into one of the men, causing him to fall backwards. Jumping back a few feet as soon as the reach the ground, he saw two of the remaining four rushing at him together, while the other helped get their comrade out from underneath the corpse.

Darkrai rushed at the two men, throwing the decapitated head at the one to the left, causing him to stop to wipe the blood out of his eyes. The remaining man thrusted his sword at Darkrai's chest, to which Darkrai moved just out of the way and spun, swinging his scythe through the man torso, slicing him clean in half bellow his chest. His partner turned just in time to see him fall and roared as he charged at the boy with new vigor. Darkrai, already seeing him, waited for the man to get in distance and parried the incoming blow, driving his scythe above the man, and brought the blade down the man's torso, making the man spill his innards when he fell with a sickly, wet thud.

The two remaining men got back to the fight as soon as the body hit the floor. The both charged together, screaming as they did for their friends. Darkrai spun around and knocked the left man's sword out of his hand and into his partner's throat. The man stopped and look in horror at his friend, watching the light dim from his eyes as held feel to his knees, choking and bringing up any blood that made it past his blade.

The last man standing turned slowly, hearing Darkrai approach behind him. The man looked down, trembling at the thought of what this fate would be. Dakrai looked up at the man, eyes seemingly glowing malice. He smiled up at the man, fangs now very apparent, "You are smart to fear," Darkrai chucked through his smirk," animals who know fear tend to live longer." The man began making auditory sounds while trembling. "But sadly," Darkrai continued, face darkening as he did. "it's far too late for you to run". The man screamed and turned to take off, but was caught off the a blade from the scythe at his neck. The man made a last, final squeak before Darkrai ripped the blade clear through his neck and turned for the fat man.

The fat man hands were numb, sweat dripping down his body. His fear keeping him rooted as the snow haired boy made his way to him. As he stepped in front of the Fat man, the man fell backwards onto a tree trunk. Darkrai chuckled, at the man. "What…"The fat man quivered ,"What dah Hell iz, " Was all his could say before his head began rolling on the ground.

Darkrai whip the scythe hard to remove the blood, splotching it over the tree. As he rested the scythe on his back, the woman and boy approached him, earning them a look from him. The woman's face was still holding strong, but was obviously warry and confused. "TH-Thank you, so much for your help." The woman said almost cautiously. "Those men would have…they could have…*sigh*" she turned towards him and breathed out, and gave the most radiant and gracious smiles possible. "Thank you for saving my son and me!"

Darkrai widened his eyes at the sight, speechless for a couple moments. When he composed himself, he still couldn't stop blushing, he wasn't use to being thanked like that. "No problem mi-miss. J-Just saw you guys when I passed by and I just couldn't…"He stuttered. The woman shifted back to confusion, her face still beaming from earlier. "But why did you help us? You were outnumbered and alone, and for strangers?"

Darkrai, looked to the side at his scythe, still glimmering from the crimson lifeblood dribbling off its blade. "They were…"Darkrai started quickly, causing the woman to lean in slightly while the boy peeked around her leg. "just evil." He sneered," Anyone who betrays their species or are willing to hurt innocents deserves to die. That's what my master taught me and what I believe." He finished proudly before starting to play with the grass with his foot, "also…I couldn't just leave a woman and child in trouble". The woman blinked, and brought her hand to her mouth as she chuckled.

Darkrai flushed red again and turned quickly towards the woman, "Hey! I just saved you, there's no need to laugh at me! What's so funny anyway!?" the boy whined in embracement, which of course only made her laugh harder.

When she calmed down a little she looked at the boy, "Sorry, I just didn't expect that kind of response." She apologized through her giggles. "You just don't look like the hero type to me. Not to mention you barely look older than my son."

Darkrai couldn't help but scowl at how spot on she was. He looked down at his dark, sleeveless shirt and his loose black pants which were all now covered in spots of sprayed blood. His eyes and fangs probably didn't help his case ether. Not to mention the skull décor that was carved into the upper poll arm of the scythe. "Yeeeaaaah, guess I can see what you mean." He admitted, "Guess the irony isn't too lost on me." The women chuckled at that, once again causing Darkrai to turn red in embarrassment. _Least that skeleton isn't around here, I'd NEVER hear the end of it,_ Darkrai thought hardening his scowl. "Anyway," the woman started holding out her hand, "I'm Lucifina, and this is my son, Luka."

Darkrai shook his head, trying to shake his embarrassment. "I'm Darkrai Kai, "Darkrai greeted Lucifina. As he reached out to her hand, he felt a sharp pain suddenly spark in his side. His eyes shot wide as he grunted and fell to a knee, grabbing where the pain burst from. Lucifina quickly dropped to his level, worry apparent on her face. She gently moved his hand to see what was causing him pain. She moved the blood stained cloth to see a large gash about 2 cm deep across his hip. "You're hurt," she Luka gasped, Lucifina shaking her head.

"Huh," Darkrai grunted, "didn't feel them hit me."

Lucifina's look hardened as she turned her face to Darkrai's. "Come to my house, I need to close this."

"Nah," Darkrai grunted, "I just need to find a place to rest for a day or two. I can heal it up myself."

"No, I insist!" She said sternly, "We don't know how dirty their blades were. It could get infected."

"I said its fine, you don't have to worry about it."

"It's not fine! Look at how deep this is! And all this blood…"

"Look you don't need too-"

Her face darknend and she lean in close, forcing him to move back slightly. "You…are…COMING…with…ME…"'

Darkrai sat there sweating bullets, eyes wide. "Yes mam, thank you very much."

Her face quickly lit back up into a bright, nearly blinding smile. "Great now follow me. And Luka, help him walk would you?" Her boy quickly nodded happily and ran over with a smile.

Luka bent down and helped then teen out. Luka being quite shorter of him, made Darkrai bend over as they walked, Luka smiling all the way. "Thank you by the way! Me and mom were in a really scary situation. I was, too scared to move." Luka started graciously and ended sadly.

Darkrai eyed the boy, eyes still red from the pain. "Fear isn't something to be ashamed of," Darkrai said after a short silence, causing Luka to stare at him, "my master taught me that if you fear something, it's because you think it can hurt you. If you fear, you act cautiously and think of every way out of the situation. Either that or you just freeze and do nothing." He finished with a shrug. Luka looked down in obvious shame, knowing he fit the latter.

"Hey, it's not that hard Luka." Darkrai continued, "If you train yourself, you can act rather than quiver. Hell, if you wanted I bet you could become a true hero." Luka looked back up at the teen, light in his eyes as he nodded quickly. Darkrai couldn't help but smile back.

After they reached the house, Lucifina had Luka rest Darkrai on a bed upstairs, Darkrai cursing the entire way up. After he was laid back, Lucifina came up with a small box and a bucket of water. She lifted his shirt so she could see the full extent of the damage. It hurt but it didn't feel like anything too bad. The cut seemed to had stopped bleeding during the walk to the village, but was puffed up. Lucifina kneeled and started dabbing at the cut with a wet rag. Darkrai hissed as she cleaned out the inside of the wound with the rough rag.

After 10ish minutes of that, Luka came running up with steaming water. He must have lit the fire and heated it. Lucifina washed the cloth out in the steaming water and returned her attention to the wound. She looked over at Darkrai and seemed to falter for a second before take a deep gulp, "You might want to hold onto something Darkrai, this isn't going to feel very good." Darkrai looked confused.

The instant she pressed against the cut with the newly damped cloth, Darkrai bit his tongue to hold in a scream, the pain was incredulously unbearable. The water must have had herbs or something in it because it stung something horrible. Darkrai fought back tears as she continued to scrub.

After 5 minutes of that torture, Luka returned with a needle while she reached for a twine of thread in her small box. Darkrai hardly noticed as she stitched him up, still dazed from the cleaning. She finished her handy work as Luka held the skin together after 8ish minutes, Darkrai keeping any sign of pain behind his now bleeding tongue.

After she finished, she cleaned up and took a chair next to the bed as Darkrai slowly forced himself to sit up right. He gently rubbed his side, scowling while doing so. "Thanks, " Darkrai said through his teeth. "Though this much really wasn't necessary." She smiled at him, giving a small nod. "It was no trouble at all! Least I could do after you saved us." She said smiling while rubbing her sleeping sons head. "And you don't know that, those blades could have been poisoned or dirty. Even your monster blood wouldn't be able to save you if that happened."

Darkrai sign in resignation, "Yeah, I suppose its better to be safe than…" Darkrai eyes went wide as her words clicked in his head, "Wait, how did you know I wasn't human?!" He yelled abruptly quickly turning towards her which caused his side to flare in pain and waking Luka up. Lucifina laughed at his nativity, patting his sons head, "You mean other than the fact you have red, slitted eyes and fangs?" She said raising a brow at him, making Darkrai quickly check to make sure his fangs where concealed. She chuckles at that. "Plus, that weapon you're using and yourself were emanating Dark Energy during that fight. "She stated.

"I have…" She started, "dabbled with magic before, so I can sense it. But you have it well hidden, so no normal person would be able to feel it." Darkrai eyed the blonde, blue eyed woman. "So, you are a witch then? "He questioned. She nodded still smiling warmly at him. _That would explain why those other villagers were avoiding her like the plague,_ he thought, not wanting to bring it up. "That's why you might have noticed most of the villagers avoiding us and not trying to help us along the way. _Aaaand there goes that curtesy!_ Darkrai whistled in his head. Darkrai's eyes softened, as he opened his mouth, Luka cut in with bright smile, "Don't worry! It doesn't bother me or mom!" He chirped, "long as we have each other, I don't need anyone else!"

The snow haired boy was taken aback by the boys cheerful demeaner and couldn't help but let a warm smile envelop his face as nodded his head, agreeing with Luka. "Aye, ain't that the truth." Darkrai chuckled in agreement making Luka's smile beam even brighter. Lucifina couldn't help but be infected by the smiles around the room while she hummed agreeingly.

After a few hours of talking between Darkrai and Lucifina, Luka and his mother went to bed after doing some chores. He told them everything he told Kali and Nikki as well as his age and type of monster he was.

While the two were doing their chores, Darkrai was reading the tome his master left him. So far, it was just lessons and new techniques he had to learn before moving on. Each chapter seemed to be magically locked, presumably until he practices or masters the previous chapters contents. Looking over the first chapter, he thought how long it would take. It was over different ways to increase reach and basics of making a cloak. _Probably could master these in a couple weeks_. He thought to himself.

After he closed the book and nodded to himself, knowing what he was going to start tomorrow, he looked up, seeing Lucifina walk up the stairs. "Oh Lucifina, I thought you went to bed?" Darkrai said in genuine surprise.

She looked up with that gentle smile of hers, "I saw you were awake, and decided to ask you something," she said quietly causing Darkrai to lift a brow. "I want you to stay here for a while. You said you need a place to be in peace, right?" she paused, giving him time to nod his head." Then this is perfect! The people will leave you alone, and when you come back after a tired day of training, all of your food and other preparations would be done!" She was now right next him, placing her hand on his." So please, live with us."

Darkrai was taken aback. He stared at her, wide eyed and mouth ajar. "Wait wh-what?! I mean, don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful offer but…" Darkrai's surprised look turned confused, "why? We only just meet today, and what would the villagers do if they found out you were harboring a monster…"

Lucifina continued to smile, "despite that, you already saved me and Luka. And he really has seemed to taken a liking to you!" She said in earnest before hiding her mouth with her hand, " But I guess I'm guilty of that as well," she giggled. "Also, you are still only a child. I couldn't in good conscience let you leave without a place to go, regardless of what the others would do. And if they do find out, I'm sure I'll figure something out."

Darkrai simply sat there, staring at her. He didn't know what to say. His master taught him through all his training about how humans are selfish and cruel, that they only look after themselves and their interest. But here she was. A walking contradiction. Sure, those humans from earlier fit his master's description perfectly, but this woman, Lucifina was…pure. She had nothing to gain from giving him a place to stay, at least none that he could see.

He felt like he should be suspicious, and he probably would if it was anyone but her asking. He simply just couldn't see her doing anything worthy of suspicion. Honestly, she fit the human's description of angelic, though that description was more of an insult to monsters.

"…So?" Lucifina asked softly, snapping Darkrai out of his thoughts. "What do you say?" Darkrai looked into her deep, pleading blue eyes, then gave a small huff in resignation. "Alright," he conceded, "I accept your offer. Thank you for offering me."

Lucifina gave her award-winning smile, "Great!" she burst out before quickly covering her mouth and looking down the latter causing Darkrai to chuckle. She turned back to him, slightly red and gave a nervous laugh in embarrassment. "I suppose we should talk about this more in the morning, huh?" She whispered. Darkrai nodded, still chuckling at her embarrassment.

She wished him good night and back to bed, leaving him to his thoughts. Darkrai placed the book on the windowsill and stared out into the village. _Well this has been a hell of a day._ He thought honestly to himself. _Wake up on the other side of the world, learn master is gone, saved two humans and have a new home for a bit._ He looked over the small village and up to the temple. _Even though it's the center of Ilias worship._

Darkrai gave a small sigh, fogging up the window slightly before turning over to blow out the candle he had lit. "Well," he thought out loud while pulling the covers over himself, "Maybe tomorrow will be just as interesting."

Hey y'all! Sorry to make any of you wait so long for the new chapter. Was crazy busy these past couple of months with college. But know, I plan to continue with this story till finish, and I'm hoping on keeping true to that!

As always, all criticism is wanted and accepted. Through your comments, I work to make the story and writing more enjoyable for you the reader as well as me.

First hint was given.

Thanks for reading!

MW


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 :Week 2

"For fucks sake Luka! Just move to the side! Why are you just taking this?!" Darkrai yelled at the idiotic purple haired boy from the other side of the clearing.

"But it's so hard!" Luka shouted back covered in scratches and bruises from the rocks and branches his training companion was heaving at him. "How I am supposed to dodge something moving that fast?!"

"I'M THROWING THEM AS FAST AS A SLUG GIRL CAN RUN! I'm honestly more impressed that you are getting hit at all!" The annoyed vampire barked back, throwing another stone.

Luka saw it coming and readied himself, bringing his wooden training sword up. As the rock neared, Luka attempted to block it with the edge of the blade, earning him another bruise on his forehead. Luka yelped in pain and fell back on his rear.

Darkrai pinched the bridge of his nose and huffed out a sigh before making his way across the large clearing the two have designated as their training grounds. "Luka, if you are going to attempt to block a projectile," Darkrai began to correct as he arrived to where Luka fell, "use the FLAT part of the blade. It has more area for the attack to hit. Also," Darkrai bent over and flicked Luka's new bruise, causing Luka to shout out and cover it, "I told you to DODGE. You aren't ready to learn how to parry attacks or projectiles yet."

Luka looked up, still rubbing his bruise. "I know, but I just thought it would be a lot cooler if I did!" Luka explained going starry eyed. "One of the hero's in town earlier told me about how he deflected a Dragon girls fire ball back at her! So, I wanted to try- OW!" Darkrai flicked Luka's bruise again, annoyed. "Hey!" Luka yelled up at him, "What was that for?!"

Darkrai looked at the boy with a mixture of amusement from his pain and annoyance from his naivity. "Because," Darkrai started, hand out to count the reasons, "You didn't do as I told you, because you believed in that "Hero's" tall tales, your stance was horrible, your accuracy was deplorable and you couldn't dodge a single attack. Also, unless that "hero" had a Dragon Steel sword or a heavily enchanted one, his blade would have melted on the spot and he would either been eaten or kept as a pet by said dragon."

Luka starred at the ground toying with some of the rocks that were thrown at him, seeming discouraged. "I guess that makes more sense, sorry." Luka admitted begrudgingly. Darkrai starred down at the boy, feeling like he just kicked a puppy for trampling Luka's daydream and critiquing him so harshly. He needed to work on not doing that.

He sighed at the pathetic yet heart tugging display. "How about we call it for now, we've been training since sunrise." Darkrai concluded, "Let's head back and continue your studies of monsters. I'll make us some berry tea as well." He finished with a warm smile.

Luka jumped up, vigor back in his step as he sang in agreement. The boy really loved learning more about monsters. Not even ways to defeat or hinder them, just general learning. Different races' likes and dislikes, homes, culture, customs. He craved to learn everything he could about them. Sadly, there was very little in the way of material Darkrai could find save for "Hero's Guides" given out by those creepy priests at the temple, but it was something at least. Of course, Darkrai added his own knowledge in as well and corrected the churches…thoughtful insight along the way.

He sent Luka back to the house while he collected up all their training gear. The clearing was far in the forest so he didn't think anyone would happen upon it, but he really didn't feel like making all the training swords and targets again. After he finished putting all the gear in a little hole under a bush he dug out, he started his way back to the village. It was only about a 20 minute walk, but the forest was so dense around these parts that you would never guess there was a settlement nearby, which of course made this location great. Far from where most humans would go normally and plenty of space to train.

Originally, he had planned on training by himself, and for the first week he did so. However, Luka soon wanted to join him as he wanted to be a "True Hero" someday and he didn't have a training partner.

" _What the in First name is a "True Hero"?_ Darkrai remembered asking both amused and confused.

" _Someone who helps people no matter what! It doesn't matter if they are human or monster, I just want to help those in need!"_ Luka had replied in a way Darkrai had come to call "Luka Like".

Darkrai chuckled at the memory. Originally, he had declined. After all, the reason he agreed to stay with them was so he could train in peace. However, as him and Luka became closer over the past two weeks he'd been here, he decided he'd let him tag alone just to see how it would turn out. Plus, he felt he owed Lucifina at least that much for giving him a place to stay.

And surprisingly enough, it was actually quite nice having him around. Darkrai would give him some training exercises to tone his body and build some muscle. They were like the ones his master given him, though he cut them down quite heavily to fit the young boy's stamina. After a week of that, he decided to begin training Luka personally rather than giving him exercises. Which had been a good cooldown from his own training which could be mind-numbingly hard. He hadn't even gotten through half of the first chapter of his training. Darkrai sighed at that, he had hoped to be finished with the first chapter by the end of the next week but it looked like he would be on it for another three at least.

He reached the edge of the clearing to where Luka had been waiting and started walking back together. "Can you teach me about Dragons today Darkrai?" Luka pleaded. Darkrai eyed the boy, "Why? Just because of what I told you?" Luka nodded and looked at him starry eyed, "Yeah! I mean, you said that their fire can melt a steel blade right? That's so cool! I wanna learn more about them!" Darkrai ruffled his friend hair, earning him a small scowl and playful groans of disapproval.

As they were about half way back, Darkrai noticed something off. He stopped and listened, causing Luka spin around to stare back at him confused. "What's up, something wrong?" He asked. Darkrai, not wanting to spook his friend, gave Luka a reassuring smile. "Yea, just realized I forgot to put away one of the dummies." Darkrai lied convincingly, "Why don't you head back and tell your mom we are ready for dinner? I'll head back after I put it away."

Luka nodded and continued to village. Once he was out of sight, Darkrai tightened his stance and reached back to place a hand on the polearm of his scythe. He closed his eyes and listened to the noises of the forest. Save for a gentle, summers breeze, it was silent. No birds, insects or other animals were making a peep. Which was never a good sign. Darkrai opened his eyes and surveyed the area with his noise in the air, trying to find any oddity.

As he looked around, his nose led him to a small puddle next to the path him and Luka used. Normally, he wouldn't think anything of it however there was one problem. It hadn't rained since Darkrai arrived to this continent.

Darkrai narrowed his eyes, allowing them to turn crimson as he approached the puddle. As he approached, he noticed more and more how unnatural the puddle looked. It was out of place, a light blue color rather than a clear hue and seemed to be quite the bit thicker than water. After reaching within arm's length, he stopped. "You aren't fooling anyone," Darkrai growled at the puddle, "So cut it out before I cut you, I don't like being stalked."

After his threat the puddle quickly grew and began to form a shape. As it contorted, a playful, high pitch voice came from the rippling figure, "Phooey! I was hoping to catch you when you walked by~." The voice said in almost playful disappointment.

When the blob fully formed, it revealed itself to be a light blue, short slime girl. She stared at him, cheeks puffed. "How did you to notice me!? I thought I was hiding myself very well." She pouted.

Darkrai sighed and returned to a normal state, not fearing the power of this slime girl. "Well," he began, getting into his critiquing mode, "The animals stay away from threats so they gave away you were in the area, your "hiding" was painfully obvious, you didn't cover your scent and you tried to be a puddle when there hasn't been rain in weeks. So really it was just a failed attempt…" _Though it worked perfectly on Luka_ , he though, eye twitching.

Due to his harsh criticism, the slime girl seemed to become more…droopy. Her expression was a mixture between disappointment and depressed. "Awwww, I thought I did well. You're too harsh *sniff*." Blue slimy tears began to fill in the corner of her eyes.

Of course, this made Darkrai feel scummy again. _For fucks sake,_ Darkrai thought, _I need to stop being a dick when I give my opinion._

He moved to say something to her, but was quickly taken back when she suddenly shot straight up and looked at him in realization. "Wait!" She exclaimed pointing at Darkrai. "That purple haired boy didn't notice me! That means I DID do good!" As she finished, she puffed out her, causing her breast and the rest of her body to jiggle. "You must have been lucky or something!" He accused pointing at him.

Darkrai pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep inhale. The slime girl stood, pointing at him with a determined expression still on her face. "No, he's just not cautious enough…that and oblivious." Darkrai stated sounding agitated. "Look, I had a long day and still have a lot to do. What do you want?" _Though it's not hard to guess. Darkrai thought._

The slime narrowed her eyes slightly and gave a lewd smile. "Weeeeeell~…"She began playfully, "I was getting hungry when I noticed you throwing rocks at the other boy. Sooo," She took a "step" forward while licking her lips, "I thought I'd try and convince one you to give me something to eat?~", she cooed.

Darkrai blinked, "Sure I don't mind."

The blue girl got into a pouncing position, ready to spring at him. "Then I'll just have too…" The slime recoiled back in surprise causing her body to jiggle with her, "Wait what?" She asked in genuine surprise.

"I said sure, I don't mind giving you some of my fluids," Darkrai reaffirmed.

"I...you…really!?" The slime said at a loss for words, but still ecstatic at his compliance. "Yay! I haven't meet someone willing to give me semen without a fight before!" She exclaimed practically jumping up and down.

Darkrai raised a brow at the celebratory slime as he made his way directly in front of her. "Semen? I never said I'd have sex with you." Darkrai stated causing the girl to stop jiggling in joy and give him a questioning glare. "But you said…"

"I said, "Darkrai cut in while reaching his hand behind him, "I'd give you fluids. Which I didn't lie about." Darkrai ran his palm along the edge of the scythes blade. He pooled his hands together while forcing blood from the cut, filling his palms with crimson nectar. The slime slid over to him and watched the blood pool in his hands with a perplexed look on her face.

"Why blood? It would have tasted and felt better if you let me get semen from you." She pouted.

"True, but it would have taken more time. And I don't wish to keep Luka and Lucifina waiting," Darkrai replied while applying pressure to his wound.

"But doesn't that hurt?" She asked somewhat concerned, "Wouldn't have been better to let me suck...?"

"Again, "he cut off", I know it would have felt better, but I don't have time right now. Besides, if I let you do that you would have drained me without me being able to benefit from you as well. It's hard to feed off a slime since you are all…well slime," Darkrai finished with a chuckle while bringing his cupped hands to her.

The slime gave him a sceptical look, but shrugged it off as began drinking from his hands. She started off cautiously, obviously not sure what to expect. But as soon as she took her first slip, her eyes lit up as she started chugging. Darkrai watch with a smile, amused by the slimes reaction to her first taste of blood.

As she finished, she let out a content sigh she stood back up. "That was great! Thanks for the meal!" The light blue slime chirped. Well, now her stomach was more of a purple hew. She looked back up at the boy with that perplexed look again. "But how did you know I would like that? I've never had someone offer blood before, I thought that was just a vampire thing?"

Darkrai huffed at the girls own ignorance towards her own race's diet, "What do you mean how would I know? It's common knowledge that slimes diet consist of men's fluids such as sweat, saliva, semen, etc. And that includes blood."

The slimes eyes went starry in amazement, "Wow! I didn't know that I could eat those also! I thought they just taste good, but I can make a meal out of make out session with a man?"

 _Not the brightest gal is she?_ Darkrai thought, "I mean, it would have to be a long session but I guess technically you could…but that's beside the point, I need to get heading off, good meeting you..."

"Lime!" She exclaimed happily. "Lime the Slime!"

"Lime, eh? _Easy to remember at least,_ I'm Darkrai, guess we'll be seeing more of each other."

"Yea! I live in a small pond not too far from where you were beating that boy! So I'll visit every now and then!" Lime chimed.

Darkrai chuckled and started to leave but stopped after a few steps. "Oh, but just as a warning, if you try hunting that boy I was with…" Darkrai turned to her, baring fangs in a wide, sadistic grin and staring at her with crazed, glowing crimson eyes " You'll be in for a VERY, bad time. Got it lime?"

Slime quickly nodded her head, still beaming and jiggling, "That's ok! I have you to feed me now anyways! So make sure you see me soon~!"

Darkrai starred deadpan after the chipper slime was she slide away humming a cheering tune… _Intimidation be damned I suppose. That or he just does it better_. Darkrai thought annoyed as he walked away.

* * *

After Darkrai returned to the house, he was greeted by Lucifina who brought him to the table where Luka was finishing setting up the plates and silverware, though it was more like woodware. It didn't seem like Lucifina and Luka had anything other than wooden crockery or cutlery save for a cast iron pot and cauldron above the fire place. _Might be nice to get them some nicer dining room sets as a gift maybe,_ Darkrai thought while sitting down _._

After a nice evenings supper of mutton and potato stew, Darkrai began teaching Luka about Dragons and others of the Draconic lineage. He especially seemed interested in their magics and Dragon Steel forging. Of course, while he taught, he also made the berry tea Luka and Lucifina had come to enjoy.

After he taught Luka late into the night, he finally put the young boy to bed well after the moon was high in the sky. After he closed Luka's door, he made his way back to the living room where Lucifina was reading and sipping on a fresh batch of tea. As he took a seat, Lucifina pulled her attention away from the book and closed its leather bindings before looking up at Darkrai. "For being such a child yourself, you really know how to take care of kids don't you?" She teased him as she leaned back in her rocking chair.

Darkrai chuckled, "Yeah, well my master had adopted a young girl who was orphaned due to... well anyway she's probably close to Luka's age now that I think about. So, I guess I'm just used to taking care of people younger than me."

Lucifina nodded, "Well that would explain where your finesse for taking care of kids comes from. "

Darkrai cocked his head slightly looking slightly perplexed at Lucifina, earning him a confused stare from her. "Something wrong?" She asked.

"What doesn't finesse mean? I've never heard that before."

Lucifina eyes went wide before she closed them and covered her mouth to laugh, making Darkrai go red from embarrassment. "Sorry, sorry!" She wheezed through her chuckling. "When I talk to you I forget you are still just a young teen. You act so much more mature than a child so I naturally use a wider dialogue thinking you can keep up." She explained.

Darkrai hid half of his face in his sleeveless shirt as he slumped down in his seat. "Not my fault I don't know fancy words. Warriors talk through their blades and fists." Darkrai mumbled through his shirt.

"Now that's something I would expect someone your age to say," Lucifina laughed before composing herself. "But anyway, what about that girl your master adopted? If she's around Luka's age, we could make play dates one day!"

"Well, not that I'm against the idea," Darkrai stated sounding disingenuous, "But she is a young monster, a kistune at that, so I'm not sure how…innocent Luka would come out after that. Not to mention she's still on Hellgondo with master, so getting a hold of them would be next to impossible save for traveling there at the moment."

Lucifina pressed her brows together, obviously thinking over what he had told her. She smiled and looked up at Darkrai, "Ok then, when they are older and they reach a more mature age."

Darkrai felt a sweat drop roll down the back of his head, "Not really what I was going for, but fine, I'll accept that. Who knows, might be a good way to teach him about kistunes one day." Darkrai mused.

"You know," Lucifina started, giving Darkrai a questioning look. "I don't believe I have ever asked about your master. With how much you talk about him, I guess I've just been slowly putting the pieces together."

Darkrai furrowed his brows, trying to think back to a time he made more than an off comment about him, giving a low thoughtful hum. "Huh," he finally let out, "I guess I haven't talked about him ether."

"Well?" Lucifina edged, "Tell me about him! Start with how you two met."

"hm…" Darkrai said while tapping his finger on his chin, "His name is Adamant Eilif. I believe I met him through my mother after one of their meetings…

* * *

 **Hellgondo, Dark Sanctuary, Nine Years Prior**

The huge, thick wood door slowly shuttered open, causing the young Darkrai to retreat from leaning on the door and stand to the side. After the doors opened fully, monsters began filing out of the large conference room they were in prior. Most were vampires, but there were a few other races: two gargoyles, a wolf girl, and a short skeleton. Nearly everyone exiting the room was conversing with one another. Various different opinions, all focusing on whatever was talked about moments ago.

The young, four year old Darkrai stood to the side scanning the crowds, jumping frustratedly to see more. After a short while of hopping, the person he was looking for finally saw him and jump over. Landing softly, she cupped her hands around Darkrai cheeks and kissed his forehead before nuzzling him with her own, covering the chuckling child with her silky, red hair.

"Sorry about that bonbon." The mature, voluptuous women coo'd apologetically. "Those mean rebels have been really nasty lately."

"It's ok mama!" Darkrai smiled up. "I was playing with Nami earlier so I wasn't waiting long."

"Oh that's great you were sweetie!" She said before narrowing her already narrow eyes. "You need to know how to make your future wife happy."

"Mooooooooooom!" The young boy pouted before give her a shove with a laugh.

As the two continued, a monster making their way to them called out, " Thana!" The mother gave an annoyed sigh before rising. "Adamant, I told you to not use my last name in public! It makes me sound old!"

Darkrai stepped out from behind her to get a view of the new person. He was slightly taller than his mother so around 190 cm (6'3''), and had silver hair he wore down past his shoulder blades. His cat like, blood red eyes wore upon his sharp features and monotone expression. His attire comprised of a purple stained, leather cuirass on top a black shirt and slacks, all under an open trench coat which made its way past the back of his knees, that was lined with snake like chains. But the thing that stood out the most of the man was the long, dark, dual bladed scythe that clung to his back.

Adamant matched the woman's expression, "And I believe I told you many times to address me Lord Eilif in public, Thana."

The two continued staring at each other through narrowed eyes, tension seemingly obvious between the two. However, at the high of their starring contest, the two broke into lighthearted hearted laughter before giving each other a friendly embrace. As they parted, Adamant spoke. "It was good to have you here during that mess, Lucine. These insurgents have everyone worried. Having your calm demeanor in there was a blessing by the First. I would have never been able to retake control of the council if you hadn't stepped in at the end."

Lucine gave a curt nod, "You give me too much credit. I'm sure you would have been able to encourage them with your charisma alone. Getting Elizabeth to calm down on the other hand…"

Adamant gave a deep sigh, "You'd think that in her years of experience, she'd have a better mindset than "charge the enemy directly" when we still have no idea about what kind of power they have."

"True, she's hardly 100 years younger than me yet her strategic analysis skills match that of an aggressive child." She stated annoyed. "Buuut," she said in a teasing tone, "I don't think someone as young as you should be talking about age. Her 300 some years dwarf your short 42 year existence."

"And yet I'm tied for influence and am more powerful than the Queen herself and have single handedly reclaimed Dark Sanctuary." Adamant countered playfully. "I believe I have achieved more in my short life than Miss Elizabeth in hers."

Both the adults shared a laugh before Adamant finally took note of the child by his friend's side. He took a knee and leaned forward to meet Darkrai's gaze. His naturally cold expression caused the child to hide behind his mother's legs, earning a small chuckle from her. Seeing the child's obvious lack of comfort, he attempted to soften his continence with a smile.

"Hello little one," Adamant said softly, "you must be Celine's son, Darkrai."

Darkrai meekly nodded, still cautious. Celine placed a hand on his head and softly fluffed his hair, earning a small groan from the child. "Sorry, he's still not used to being around new people, he's a shy child. It took months for him to start playing with Nami even."

Adamant stood back with a chuckle, still staring at Darkrai. "Well everyone grows at their own rates, I'm sure he'll warm up to me soon enough. We'll be seeing a lot more of each other soon after all."

Darkrai blinked and pulled his mother's black legging, grabbing her attention. "What does he mean?"

Using her cloak, she picked Darkrai up and brought him to her arms so it would be easy for them all to talk. Though Darkrai still squirmed all the way to her embrace. "Well bonbon, starting next year he is going to be training you. Your magic and abilities are a lot different than mommy's so I wouldn't be able to draw your full power. You are a very special child, so you need a very special teacher." She explained.

Darkrai turned his head and looked over the man in front of him again. "You are going to be my teacher?"

Adamant gave a small nod in confirmation. "Indeed. Since your airhead of a mother failed to do so, I guess I'll introduce myself. I am Adamant Eilif, ruler of Dark Sanctuary. Your mother and I became friends 13 years ago, during one of the Monster Lord's banquets. After she had you, she starting coming to me for advice quiet often regarding how to take care of you properly. Failure of a mother if you ask me." He teased earning him a dirty look.

"Well its been nice Adamant, but we should get heading back." Celine said. "Darkrai and I are going to see Nami and her mother."

"I need to give a report to the 15th anyway, she's been wanting me to keep her up to date on these rebels. It was nice meeting you Darkrai, I hope to be seeing more of you soon." Adamant finished with a curt bow before following the rest of the crowd out of the castle.

* * *

… "I was probably around three or four. Actually no, I didn't start training under him after my mother died when I was four, so I've been training under him for nine years now."

Lucifina leaned forward, a cautious and worried expression across her face. "That's an early age to lose a parent, I'm sorry that you had to go through that."

Darkrai gave Lucifina small nod and a smile, "I appreciate the sentiment, but there's no need. Don't get me wrong, I miss her greatly but she died when I was still very young, so I've had a lot of time to get over her passing. But it would have been much harder on me if master hadn't taken me under his wing."

"If you don't mind me asking, how did your mother pass? I can't imagine it was due to age considering she was a Vampire." Lucifina pressed lightly.

Darkrai leaned back into the chair while letting out a low growl. "I don't know the exact reason." He admitted. "Master was with her when she died, but he has refused to tell me. I'm guessing he's waiting for me to be older or maybe he thinks I'll vow my life for revenge or something stupid like that."

"Revenge?" Lucifina inquired, "So you think she was killed by someone?"

Darkrai nodded, "Without a doubt. She died when she and master were out together on a mission. She wasn't the klutzy type, so I know it wasn't accidental. My guess is she was killed by the insurgents they were talking about in their meeting. Can't think of any others on Hellgondo who would want her dead."

After that, the two sat in silence for a while, only the crackling of the fire and the chirping of crickets prevented silence from enveloping them. Lucifina seemed to be contemplating what to say next while Darkrai simply sipped the tea he had heated near the fire place while watching the shadows dance across the floor.

"What about your father?" Lucifina asked, breaking the silence between them. "Did he ever have anything to do with you?"

"My father?" Darkrai responded, surprised by the question. "No, I don't even know if he's alive or dead, I've never really asked about him. My mother had me with a human, not an incubi, so he wasn't allowed at the castle…what about Luka's father, your husband? I haven't seen him these past couple weeks."

Lucifina hands twitched slightly around her cup at the mention of her husband. "He's…no longer with us." She stated in a somber tone. "He was killed in Sentora when he was visiting an old friend."

Shock spread across Darkrai's face, quickly switching to more apologetic look. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

Lucifina looked up to meet Darkrai's apologetic eyes and gave a warm smile, weary smile. "It's fine, I brought up fathers it only makes sense you would ask about Luka's."

She could see curiosity in his eyes, but knew he wouldn't press any further out of respect. Lucifina looked back down at here tea, gently swaying the warm, red liquid side to side. "His name was Marcellus, he looked a lot like Luka, almost exactly. In fact, the only thing I think Luka got from me was his complexion." She joked with a warm laugh. "He had come here after leaving an organization in Gold Port and, well something just clicked between us. He decided to stay here with me and cut all ties with the organization. He tried to repent for the sins he committed with that organization…but I guess that those sins caught up with him."

"…When you say Gold Port," Darkrai said accusingly, "You mean Ilias Kreuz, don't you? Which would mean that those "sins" that killed him…were monsters weren't they?"

She gave a small nod, still starring down at the light red tea swaying in her up. "Yes, to both questions." She looked up sullenly to meet his conflicted expression. "He lost close friends during his travels to a monster and let his depression get the better of him. After we meet and married, he came out of his despair. He used to call me his "star" for bringing him out of that state. He tried to make amends for his past afterwards by helping monsters on his travels. He led them to a haven on this continent west of here so they could live in peace."

Darkrai expression changed countless times through the short story, unable to fully be content with an emotion. "I've heard stories from many friends about the atrocities the Ilias Kreuz has committed. Each story enough to make me want to vomit. And each member so deluded and conceded in their twisted beliefs that the only way to stop them is to kill them or crush their minds." Darkrai starred into Lucifina's eyes. "But you managed to bring one of them back to their senses. And not only so, he even went as far as to seek redemption by assisting those he originally sought to destroy. Damn, you really are an angel, aren't you?"

Lucifina sat silently, eyes wide at Darkrai's words. She eventually broke and started laughing behind her hand. "I guess you could say that…" She wheezed. She quickly brought her fit under control and continued talking. "I'm surprised though, I thought you'd be more…I don't know, spiteful?"

Darkrai blinked. "Why would I be?" He asked bemused. "In despair, he made a stupid decision and you brought him back. On top of that he repented by helping those he tried to kill originally. It may not pardon him from his past sins, but there are many who wouldn't even try to make amends. It sounds like he was a good and honest man."

Lucifina smiled, looking back at her tea. "Yes. He was a great man."

Darkrai raised from his chair and moved behind Lucifina's before wrapping her in a hug. "For all its worth, I'm sorry for your loss. I know better than anyone how hard it is to close someone you love."

She placed a hand on his arm and leaned her head on his arm. "Thank you Darkrai. It means a lot."

After a short while like that, both decided to head to bed. Lucifina wished to first clean up and do the dishes but Darkrai insisted he would get it done. She thanked him then went to bed with Luka. Darkrai cleaned up for the next half hour quietly then checked to make sure she and Luka were asleep. Confirming so, Darkrai headed up to his room, opened the window and jumped out onto the neighbor's roof.

Giving a big stretch and cracking his neck, Darkrai took a slow exhale, eyes turning red as he did. He looked down at his shaking hands, attempting to have them stay steady. _Glad they didn't notice, don't want them thinking something is wrong._ Darkrai thought thankfully. _It's been over two weeks' sense I've last fed. I'm honestly surprised that I'm only getting hungry now._

Of course, it wasn't something as basic as food Darkrai was hungry for, he could make something if that was the case. He hungered for blood, a necessity for all vampires and some other monsters.

Jumping roof to roof under the cover of the new moon, the snow haired vampire scanned the ground bellow, looking for people brave enough to stay out during the dead of night. With only a few lanterns lighting the roads, the town was mostly shrouded in darkness, making it near impossible for a normal human to see past the light of the lantern. Though to Darkrai's eyes, it might as well have been high noon.

Eventually, his hunting lead to a tavern at the edge of the village. " _The Drunken Hero"…fitting_. Darkrai took a perch on the roof of the tavern and waited, listening to the people inside to pass the time. He could hear the drunks inside, singing some song of a past hero's venture in slurry, horribly out of tune voices.

Eventually, a sorry drunken sod and what was probably his son came out of the tavern. The old man was still singing in a slurry tone while he leaned on the older boy for support. The man had a full beehive that hung to his adams apple that was covered in beer. Darkrai recognized him as one of the farmers around here, confirming that the boy was his oldest son.

 _Perfect,_ Darkrai thought, _that boy will do nicely._

Following the pair from the rooftops, Darkrai waited to the pair to reach the edge of town. The man had a farm about a ten minute walk from the outskirts of town, meaning they would have to leave the village's safety and travel the unlit path. Perfect for an ambush. And with the boy's father as drunk has he was, he would be easy to knock out.

After the pair finally breached the safety of the village, Darkrai silently jumped to the ground and followed them out of the light of the lamp the boy lit. Half way through the trail, Darkrai covered his face with a cowl and took a running start at the pair.

Within three seconds, Darkrai had jumped and landed on the boys back, knocking both him and his father to the ground and pinned the boy with a knee on his back. The father was rolling around grumbling, but not showing any signs of getting up soon. The boy, on the other hand, was a fighter. Though dazed momentary, he tried to through off his assailant by attempting to roll and buck him off, but Darkrai's unhuman strength kept him well pinned.

Without wasting a moment, Darkrai bent down with toned flexibility and sunk his fangs in the boy's neck. With a gasp, the boy stopped all struggling and began breathing heavy, his hands gripping the dirt and grass as if it was his only lifeline. For the boy, the pleasure was immediate and intense, all sense of reasoning and logic thrown out the window. Not a single thought other than of the incredible pleasure coursing the boy's veins could come to his mind. The boy quivered and convulsed under Darkrai as he fed. Darkrai couldn't help but grin, his monster instincts enjoying every second of the boy's reaction to this alien sensation and the feeling of boys untainted blood flowing through his fangs.

 _Oh this is soooooo much better than those filthy bandits._ Darkrai thought thankfully. _Tart and gamey with a hint of sweet._

Less than a minute later, Darkrai content, he slowly removed his fangs from the boys neck. The boy made a small whine as the sensation started to dull before passing out. Darkrai licked the bite mark on the boy, imbuing his saliva with a small amount of magic to close the wound. After watching the wound close, Darkrai jumped off the boy and ran into the forest, not wanting to retrace his prior path. Darkrai looked back briefly to see the father finally getting up, still very drunk but attempting to wake his boy. Darkrai gave a chuckle at the sight before starting back to the house, licking clean the rest of the blood from his fangs.

"So this is what hunting feels like." Darkrai though aloud, his instincts still causing his blood to throb from his first true hunt. "I can see why some of the others get hooked on this. Food taste so much better when its caught yourself! Maybe I should find another just for fun…" Darkrai's eyes went wide in realization as he finished that thought. Darkrai stopped right there and sat down there in the forest. He closed his eyes and forced himself to breath slow, only now realizing the state he was in.

He was shaking form excitement with a huge, mad grin on his face. His muscles were ready to pounce the smallest provocation and his fangs were seeping with pleasure inducing venom. He continued to breath slowly, humming gently between breaths. Shortly after, he rose. "Can't get worked up like that, would be bad for Lucifina and Luka if I get caught in that state." Darkrai convinced himself.

With that he slapped himself lightly on the cheeks, shook and cleared his head and ran back to Lucifina and Luka's house. The place he was slowing calling home.

* * *

Hello again readers! Sorry for another late upload, life is still crazy atm. But with this chapter out of the ways, the next couple chapters should come at a faster rate. At least much faster than the rate I've been uploading MGQ Requiem recently. But to those who are keeping up with this and any new readers, thank you for reading! Once again, all reviews and criticisms are accepted and welcomed. I even had someone reach out to me with suggestions of what they what to see in future chapters which I am keeping in mind.

Thank you for keeping up with MGQ Requiem


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Month Two

"Look, I'm not saying no, I'm just saying that you are too inexperienced. Maybe in a couple years you can try." Darkrai argued.

"But you started using one when you were a lot younger than me!" Luka countered. "Besides, you always talk about how its more useful than a sword! Wouldn't it make more since for me to use one?!"

Not that this was the first time Luka asked, but this time he was much more persistent in his request. Ever since Darkrai gave him a lesson in weapons, Luka became mesmerized with the idea of using a scythe. The way Darkrai talk it up, it seemed like the ultimate, uncounterable weapon. Though of course the reason for this was Darkrai's obvious basis towards the weapon.

Darkrai sighed, "Luka, I am a vampire. That means I have strength that far exceeds that of a normal human. Meaning I can make full use of a scythe. Not to mention I've been trained to use it since I was five and I'm still a novice." Darkrai explained while walking to the middle of the training grounds. "Besides, a war scythe is not a weapon for someone with your build. You're thin, lean and small meaning you can move quicker with a lighter weapon. A perfect body for a swordsman."

Luka glared at Darkrai from the spot the two were resting prior. "So what? I can train and get stronger! I'd be able to use that scythe by the end of the year if I work hard enough!"

The vampire raised a brow and chuckled. "Really? You think that you'll be able use this by the end of the year?" He said gesturing to his scythe.

Luka nodded his head, "Yeah! I'd just do more strength training than swordsman training! I'd be big and buff and able to use it just as well as you!"

Darkrai place the scythe gently on the ground and stepped back, gesturing to the weapon again. Luka tilted his head slightly and looked from him to the scythe. "Go ahead, try to pick it up. If you can, I'll start teaching you everything I know right now. And if you can't pick it up, you stick to what I've been teaching you. Agreed?"

Luka nodded excitedly, confident that he could at least lift the scythe. Even if he was a monster, Darkrai was only a couple of years older than he was so he couldn't be too much more physically adept than he was. Besides, his scythe didn't look very heavy. Despite its height, it was fairly thin with the blades being the only part that seemed to have any weight to them.

With those thoughts, Luka walked up to where the black, metallic weapon lay. He looked towards Darkrai who had his arms crossed and a smug look on his face. Luka bent down and took a firm grip on the polearm with both hands. He took a few quick breaths before taking a deep inhale and lifted with all his might. Though, despite his efforts, the scythe didn't so much as budge. Confused, he tried again. And again. And Again. Which each passing attempt, Darkrai's laugher grew from a chuckle to full blow hysteria.

After a 10 or so minutes, Luka finally yielded and fell on his rear, red from ear to ear while gasping for air. Meanwhile, Darkrai was still howling with laughter, clutching his sides while holding back tears. After the two regained their composure, Darkrai walked over and offered a hand. "I told you you weren't ready."

Luka accepted his hand begrudgingly and mumbled, "You can't blame me for trying" while being pulled to his feet. He watched Darkrai walk back to his scythe and effortlessly pick up the weapon with a single hand and rest it on his shoulders. Luka knew that Darkrai was strong, but still couldn't believe that Darkrai could pick up something that heavy. He's seen Darkrai have trouble carrying large pieces of wood during his carpentry job he picked up last month that had to be much lighter than how heavy the scythe felt.

Darkrai watched Luka's expression for a bit longer before chiming in. "How about I give you a quick history lesson Luka?" Luka looked up, his face still having a confused expression but now with a twist of curiosity.

Darkrai held out the scythe in front of him, allowing the middays sun to fully envelop it, showing its intricate design. The polearm's design made it look to be wrapped in steel vines with two black skulls right before the blades and a circular decoration of an foreign symbol at the bottom. The blades themselves were a dark steel, with 20 cm of space between them. The lower blade was slightly shorter than the top, though it looked to be sturdier.

"This is my masters scythe," Darkrai began, "but more than that, he's an artifact from the First Monster War. Created by the first Vampire, Dracula, and used by her to slay thousands, she named him "Darkrai". And yes, I'm named after him. He's crafted from Dragon Forged steel and imbued with magic from Dracula and the First herself." He paused to look at Luka who was now starring mesmerized. Clearly having a different interest in the scythe than he had before. "With such strong magics circulating inside of him and the care and precision that was taken to make him," Darkrai continued, "the magic gave birth to a spirt that lives inside. He dwells within a pocket dimension created by the mixing of the two magics and deems who is fit to wield him. If someone who he does not recognize as worthy attempts to wield him, then you might as well attempt to pick up a mountain because he will never move."

Luka continued starring in awe for a while before something seemed to dawned on him. "That means that I would never have been able to pick it up in the first place! You tricked me!" Luka cried out.

The white haired vampire gave a light chuckle. "Found me out did ya? Shame you already made that promise, huh?" He finished with a wink.

Luka puffed out his cheeks and glared at him before sighing in resignation, still peeved at being tricked. He picked up his wooden sword and walked back over to the training dummies to continue his routine. Darkrai gave a content huff and went back to his own training. He was in the middle of his second chapter, which was on basic Vampiric magics. Something he was greatly looking forward too.

The past six weeks have been majorly uneventful save for Darkrai taking up a job in carpentry after the villagers learned how good he was with his hands. Must be a monster thing. Through that he made a fair amount of gold quickly due to him being stronger than the average human, even in sunlight. Though most villagers still tended to not talk to him and treat him coldly despite his growing renown, simply for his affiliation with the local outcast. Thought it didn't bother him a bit, in fact he appreciated the fact people left him alone. He had nothing to say to bigots.

Another change was how often Lime would be around. After her and Darkrai's first encounter, she had started showing up more and more often till eventually it was uncommon for her not to be around during Luka and Darkrai's training.

At first, Luka was scared and warry, always giving her a sideways glance to make sure that she wasn't up to anything. Darkrai didn't blame him, he had never seen a monster that couldn't pass off as a human. Though in less than a week he had already seemed to accept her and attempted to make friends. It took her a little bit to realize that any lewd remark or action pushed him away, but she was willing to tone it down to make friends with Luka. The two actually became really good friends too. Whenever Luka wasn't training, studying or spending time with his mother, he would spend his free time visiting and playing with her.

There was one more thing that was worth noting. The small spring that Lime lived in had a small, two story cottage built by the side it. It had fallen into disrepair long before she made the spring her home so she made no attempt to fix it nor live in it. Darkrai offered to fix it up if he could have access to it, but she had no interest in living in the cottage so she gave it to the two a month back. Darkrai, Luka and Lime had worked on it every day after the boys training sessions and finished their project last week. The spring was only 5 minutes away from the training grounds, so it became habit to go to the cottage after training and drop off the gear and dummies and have some tea with Lime before going back to the village.

Lucifina even started coming to the cottage after it was finished. She and Lime got along immediately due to Limes childish nature and Lucifina's motherly nature mixing well. Lucifina even watched Luka and Darkrai train for the first time the day before. She babied Luka whenever he was hit too hard earning her many groans from the young boy. Which of course made Lime and Darkrai tease him over it.

After finishing up their training, the trio cleaned up and brought the gear back to the cottage. Soon as everything was put away, Luka plopped on the loveseat and let out an exhausted sigh, nursing his sore shoulders while Darkrai took a seat in the chair next to him, tea in hand.

"Uuuuuuuuuuugh," Luka grumbled, "300 swings was way too many for a cooldown."

Darkrai took a sip of his tea. "No, 300 swings is a fine cooldown after the workout I had you do. Now if you do 800 swings, that would be a little much for now." Darkrai responded nonchalantly. "But don't worry, I'd say next year I'll have you do that many for a warm up."

Luka groaned loudly before face planting into the cushions. Lime chuckled as she made her way across the room to get some tea from the kettle. "Soooooo, what's your guys plan for the rest of the day?" Lime asked. "You gonna go back to Lucifini's?"

Darkrai nodded while taking a sip of his tea, "Yup, I wrote up some notes the other day on Yamatai's culture for Luka to study. Figured I'd teach him about something other than monsters for a bit."

Luka groaned again into the cushion in obvious disappointment. "Why do I have to learn about human culture?" Luka complained barely raising his head. "I'm already human, I know what it's like!"

Darkrai gave an annoyed sigh. "Because, Luka, not all cultures are the same. In Ilias Village, monsters are hated and killed on sight. In Port Natalia, Mermaids are accepted as equals. In Grand Noah, all monsters have the same rights as humans. In Yamatai, monsters are worshipped and treated as higher beings. You need to learn about all these places and cultures if you are going to travel the world one day."

Through his speech, Luka had slowly began to perk up more and more till his eyes were practically gleaming. "You mean there are already place where humans and monsters live together?!" Luka practically screeched.

"Yea! Lots of places!" Lime replied. "On Sentora, there are a lot of places where we coexist with humans! Before I came here, I used to spend a lot of time in Grand Noah! The humans there were kind to me and much more willing to spend time with me. And some of them were veeeery eager to spend time with me~."

Luka cocked his head slightly at Limes last comment before realizing what she meant making him break into a full blush. Which of course earned Darkrai and Lime had a good laugh at. Luka shook off his embarrassment before looking back at Darkrai. "I wanna learn about all those places! They must be so cool and interesting!" Luka excitedly chirped.

Darkrai gave a light chuckle. "I was planning on it. And I know you'll love Grand Noah, they have this amazing colosseum where people…"

Darkrai was cut off by a loud knock at the door. Both Lime and Darkrai shot up, starring at the door intently. Darkrai already had his scythe in his hand while Lime was poised to strike. Luka looked at the two quizzically then to the door before another series of knocks followed by a deep, booming voice.

"Yo vampy! Is it your people's custom to leave company at the door or what?!" The deep feminine voice called out.

The tense atmosphere quickly dissipated as Darkrai holstered his scythe and ran to the door with a huge smile leaving Luka and Lime to stare at each other in confusion. Opening the door, Darkrai was immediately jumped and thrown to the floor by a short, green haired girl who wrapped him in a bear hug, squealing in glee. "DARKRAI! I'VE MISSED YOU SO MUCH! DID YOU MISS ME!?"

Darkrai rose, Hobgoblin still wrapped around him as he patted her head, earning him a gleeful hum. "Yes, it's good to see you Kali. You too Nikki, I honestly didn't expect to see you guys for a while."

Nikki gave a curt nod. "Well you know how Kali is. She just wouldn't shut up about you and I'll admit, I was a little worried too. So, we decided to come visit and make sure you were acclimating well. Though," she looked around the cottage and whistled, "I'd say you've been doing pretty well for yourself given that you've only been here a couple months."

The vampire laughed while prying off Kali. "Well I'm not actually living here. Lime didn't have any use for it so she gave it to me, but we really just use it as a hang out spot and storage."

Nikki cocked her head at the mention of the name and turn towards the slime. "Guessing that's Lime?"

Darkrai flinched and rubbed the back of his head embarrassed. "Sorry, where are my manners? Lime, Luka. These are my friends Nikki and Kali. They helped me out when I first got here. Luka I'm sure you remember me telling you about them."

Luka nodded sheepishly as he stared up at the towering ogre with starry eyes, while Lime and Kali shared greetings in their own bubbly way. The ogre returned his stare, though more in confusion in sharing than Luka's interest. "Why do you have a human child with you?" She asked greatly confused. "I thought you weren't a fan of holding people against their will?"

"No no no, he's just a friend of mine!" Darkrai quickly corrected. "I'm staying with him and his mother in the village while I train here."

Nikki nodded, accepting the reason for the child's presence. Kali, however, stopped dead in her conversation with Lime and started stomping over to Darkrai, leaving Lime starring at her quizzically. Darkrai broke into a cold sweat as he felt her approach, knowing exactly what had her pissy. "OOOOHHHHHHH!" She yelled while stomping to him, "So you'll stay with some humans but not with me and sis?!" She grabbed him by his collar and lifted him up. "What happened to not wanting to get distracted, huh?!"

Darkrai twirled his thumbs attempting not to make eye contact with the hobgoblin while being hoisted. "W-Well, a lot of things happened and I ended up staying with them. They don't get in the way of my training and they've been good to me. So it works out! Heh, heh..." Darkrai attempted to explain still sweating.

Still glaring, Kali let go of Darkrai and puffed out her cheeks before running over to Lime to complain. Darkrai gave a relieved sigh while Nikki couldn't help but chuckle. "She'll get over it in an hour," Nikki commented, "She doesn't know how to hold a grudge."

Darkrai gave a light chuckle as he dusted himself off. "I hope so. Something tells me it wouldn't be good for my health to be on her bad side for too long." The two shared a brief laugh in agreement. Turning to talk with his guest, he noticed a large sword sheathed at her hip. "Nikki, what kind of sword is that? Is it yours?"

Nikki nodded as she unsheathed the long blade. "Well of course its mine! What do you take me for, a common thief?" She exclaimed in mock disbelief. She held the blade out to Darkrai so he could get a better look. "This is a Nodachi, a popular sword used by the warriors of Yamatai and others of that area."

Seeing she still had Darkrai's interest, she sat down at the table and continued as he sat across from her, Luka sitting next to him, just as curious. "As you know," She directed towards Darkrai ", me and Kali left home a while ago to travel on our own. While we were on our journey, we ended up in Yamatai for a couple years. While we were there, I worked at the Blacksmith and became good friends with the forge master. When we decided to leave and continue our journey, he gave me this as a goodbye gift. He used a white metal alloy of some kind to forge her blade and made the handle out of ivory with a Dragon Steel guard. Since then, I've been practicing with it whenever I have time. To show my appreciation. I figure once I master it, I'll go and show him my skills and maybe even settle down there…eventually."

"Does she have a name?" Darkrai inquired, eyes still glued on the blade.

"Shiroi Kiba, or White Fang is the swords name, but I call her Shiro when we talk. Kali thinks its cuter."

That caught Luka's attention. "Wait you talk to your sword? Does that mean that it has a spirt inside of it too!?" Luka yelled excitedly.

"She," Nikki corrected, "And yes. She started talking to me early last year. Scared the living shit out of me when she did. And I'm guessing it's your scythe the boy is referring too?" Nikki questioned Darkrai to which he simply responded "Luka. And aye, that he is."

"Cool, maybe we can schedule a play day or something one day." Nikki joked before sheathing her blade. As she sat back down, Lime came over and set a cup of tea down for Nikki who thanked her. Kali followed soon after

For the next hour, the five sat around the table, sharing stories and telling jokes. It wasn't till Luka looked out the window and noticed the sun going down that Darkrai and him decided to head back, not wanting Lucifina to worry.

"Why don't you and Kali stay here for a while?" Darkrai offered Nikki one his way out. "It's a long ways back to the mountains from here I imagine."

"Well I'm not one to turn down a free bed and roof." Nikki replied. "Sure, I'll let ya feed me and sis for a while. Keep in mind though, we've got a big appetite."

Kali's quickly perked up after hearing her sister agree to Darkrai's proposal. "YAY! Darkrai wants us to stay!" She shrieked in joy before tackling Darkrai to the ground in a bear hug. "I thought you didn't like us around!"

"Now why would you think something like that?" Darkrai questioned in a raspy voice while trying to stand up with the hobgoblin still attached.

"Y-You stayed with that boy and h-his mom but not us," She weezed through happy tears," so,so I thought you just didn't like us!"

Darkrai blushed and patted her head before Nikki pried her sister off him, allowing Darkrai and Luka to escape with a wave.

Days turned to a week, a week to a few, and a few to 3 months, yet the sisters never left. Over time, they too fell under the same spell Luka and Lucifina seemed to cast on their white haired friend. During the second month, they decided to stay in the cottage which Darkrai had happily offered after Luka and Lucifina told him they wanted the girls to stay. They didn't even need to go to their old home to get anything that wasn't already offered by Darkrai.

They were a great deal of help in teaching Luka as well. Nikki was very knowledgeable of people, places, and cultures on Sentora, which Darkrai didn't have near as much know how about. He only knew what he read and learned, but the girls experienced it first had making them much better teachers. Though they were not used to teaching, so Luka's learning on that field was slow, but Darkrai was happy to have a helping hand.

Luka made friends with Nikki and Kali quickly due to his experience with Lime. Nikki being a katana-meister in training probably had a bit to do with it as well, with them having something in common.

Kali was surprising lax with Luka, not flirting or taunting him. She just played games, talked, and hung out with him like old friends. Nikki and Darkrai attributed that to their childish and naïve natures. Peas in a pod so they say.

Luka wasn't the only one who enjoyed the girls. Lucifina and Lime became great friends with the sisters. Lime was closer to Kali (obviously) while Lucifina's and Nikki's calmer demeanor synchronized well. Lucifina and Nikki just seemed to click the moment they met. Nikki even nicknamed her Luci to match her own name.

Darkrai benefited just as much if not more than Luka with the sisters staying. With Nikki, he had a sparring partner who matched him in wits and strength which helped quicken his progress with his training. They practiced and learned new moves, spells, strategies, and technics together. Both for their own styles and ones they could teach each other.

Kali far surpassed Darkrai in strength so she and him did strength training together. And by far, the first week of their strength training together was the worst pain Darkrai had ever experienced. She would literally lift boulders and trees out of the ground and use them as weights, expecting Darkrai to do the same. After realizing he didn't possess the strength to uproot a half ton tree, she cracked a large boulder into different sizes (with her fist mind you) and made a range of free weights for them to use. Suffice to say, she works him hard. She and Luka even did lighter work outs together.

It seemed that the original family of 2 had yet grown again.

"Do you know anywhere I can get a charm made?" Nikki asked Darkrai from the loveseat where she was cleaning Shiro.

Darkrai looked down from one the beams he had perched himself on to read. "Charm? What do you mean? Like a safety charm or luck charm?" He teased. "Safe labor?"

"Yes Darkrai, I want a piece of paper that says I have a better chance at finding a four-leaf clover than anyone else. Don't be ridiculous. I want a magic charm that will let me and Kali turn human when we want."

"So for an ogre and hobgoblin that would be a ether a weak sealing charm or a transformation enchantment." He thought out aloud. "But why would you two want those? Getting tired of seeing yourself in the mirror?" Darkrai continued to tease.

Nikki rolled her eyes with a chuckle, used to their casual banter. "No but that would be a plus. We are getting tired of being stuck here all the time, not being able to go into the village or even traveling to the city. I've been looking for an enchanter of some kind for a while on this continent, but the only one I could find was the Harpy queen and I doubt she'd make time for us."

"Uhhhh, I actually don't know. I don't know anyone who knows magic of that caliber on this continent." He admitted. "Though I do remember hearing about a monster village a little ways to the west. Probably a 2 or 3 days round trip. The blacksmith in Iliasburg told me about it when I picked up Luka's new sword the other week."

"Really? Is it in the mountains or the forest? Not a lot west of here except those."

"Edge of the mountains, deep in the forest." He replied while jumping off the support beam. "Do you wanna head there tomorrow? Wouldn't hurt to go there and if nothing else make some connections."

Nikki stood up, sheathing Shiro. "Why not go now?" She inquired. "We still have plenty of daylight. It would only take 20 minutes for me to pack enough for the two of us."

Darkrai raised a brow. "Just us? What about Kali? Imagine she'd love to take a trip after being stuck here for 3 months."

Nikki looked at Darkrai deadpan. "Do you really trust Kali to behave? Not to mention we don't know anything about the village save for what the blacksmith told you. You and me could run if things get hairy, but she's not fast nor stealthy."

"Well you got me there." He conceded. "Sure then, we'll head out in 30 minutes or so. Just let me go tell Luka and Lucifina before we head out. I'll be back in 20." He said as he walked out the door.

After a few quick goodbyes, and prying off Luka and Kali who were begging to go (The latter being much harder to get rid of), the duo being their journey west to the village. Save for occasional chat with other monsters and their usual banter, the first part of the trip was uneventful.

The sun started going down when the forest just came into view, so the two made camp on the forest's edge just as the last of the suns lights fell below the horizon. Darkrai went into the forest to hunt for dinner for the two, being the better nocturnal hunter. He later came back with a young deer and a couple rabbits.

"Ok, I've got a good one." Darkrai said while poking the fire. "Being a Succubus in Grand Noah during the First's Birthday or being a Dark Elf during the Festival of Wind and Earth in Yamatai?"

"Oh damn, that's a hard one." Nikki admitted, scrunching her brows. "So pretty much, thirty or forty men one-on-one or a three day orgy?"

"Respectively, yes." Darkrai confirmed. "A lot of men for personal use or an orgy with your Dark Elf sisters."

Nikki sat in silence, contemplating while munching on a deer leg. After 5 minutes of silence, she gave her answer. "Succubus during the First's Birthday. Having all those men to myself sounds fucking amazing."

"Really?" Darkrai stated surprised. "I would have thought that a three day orgy would have been much for attractive."

"Nah, me and sis normally share our men. So, having a lot of men to myself sounds much more enticing. Plus, I'd be a succubus, I'd be MADE to take all those men. Think about it. Their tail, huge tits, soft hands, one of the most complex vaginas of any monster. All topped off by crazy pheromones that act as a heavy aphrodisiac. That would be a hell of a day!"

"Fair enough, you've convinced me!" Darkrai wheezed through his laughter. "Alright, your turn."

"Hmmm…Ok got one. At the peak of your power, would you rather have a 1v1 with Fernandez or with Desuriea?"

"Oooooh, two Cursed Sword masters. Another hard one…would this be a fight to the death or only a spar?"

"With Fernandez, first one to tap out. With the Desureia, a fight to the death."

"Desureia, easy. I would love to have been the one to put that bitch in the ground." He growled, his voice dripping with resentment.

Nikki winced slightly at the hostility. "Take it you weren't a huge fan of her?"

Darkrai's eyes narrowed as hints of red swirled underneath the sapphire haze, threatening to rise above. "She stood against the 15th's beliefs and nearly got her race wiped out. She betrayed her lord and people, and you know how I feel about betrayal. I would have happily done away with that cunt in the name of the 15th and her dream."

Nikki raised a brow in question. "You seem awfully loyal to the 15th, given she must have died when you were quiet young." She accused.

Darkrai's eyes softened, the red glow of his eyes quickly dissipating into light of the blue fog. "After my mother died and master took me as his apprentice, she became an idol to me. An unreachable goal. The pinnacle of achievement. Her speeches of peace and harmony among all humans and all monsters ripped me out of despair and into her light. I've even been able to speak with her a few times when master brought me along on his debriefs and dinners with her lordship. She was so majestic and motherly. So regal and radiant. The only person I have ever been willing to bend my knee too."

Nikki couldn't help but smile as she watched the boy talk about his idle. His blue eyes had lit up almost like little candles, his gaze showing undying adoration, him slightly bouncing as he talked about her. It was like she was seeing how he would have been like if he wasn't forced into the sterner path he now walked.

But as quick as it came, a more somber expression replaced it, almost forlorn. After a short pause, he began to speak again, though very bitter, while looking into the flames. "But then not two years after I met her, she died, and that solace I had found crumbled into nothing. Some bastard "heroes" came and murdered her. The very people she had wanted to befriend and make peace with, who she had so much hoped to have at her table one day, preformed her execution. I was devastated and thrown into turmoil. My lord and idol, the one I used to fill the void my mother left, was gone. But what could I do? I could blame humanity and vow vengeance, raising villages and pillaging towns, but I would be going against her lordships dying wish. Or, I could follow her wishes and forgive her killers and their race for their bigotry and her murder, but my pride and loyalty would never allow it…at the age of 7, I was thrown into despair twice. It wasn't easy for master ether, he shared her dream and loved her as a mother."

Nikki couldn't help but be distraught at his story. She had her own demons, but those were experiences that she's gone through over her life. Though nothing happened as early as his. "So what did you decide on?"

Darkrai snapped out of his gaze at her question, "Huh?"

Nikki leaned forward towards him slightly, "What view did you decide to follow? You are living with Luka and Luci so I'm guessing you didn't go the vengeance route."

They look at each for a short while before he gave a halfhearted chuckle. "Well," he started. "After months of mourning, I decided on three things. I will train under master and become a strong and loyal subject for her lordship. I would follow her lordships will and do whatever I can to achieve her dream, even after her passing. And any human or monster I come across that threatens her lordships and my masters dream, I will deal with personally. These and my views on betrayal are my personal code."

Nikki nodded, "A code worth following." Nikki agreed as she grabbed a rabbit from a spit.

The rest of the night was spent star gazing and casual banter between the two before they decided to head to sleep. Darkrai jumped to the highest point of the canopy with expert dexterity while Nikki took comfort by the fire. Leaning against the trunk of the great tree, Darkrai fell asleep.

The next morning, the two had breakfast of rabbit and vegetable stew. With a brief warm up spar before packing up, they continue to the village through the dense forest. After a couple hours of traveling aimlessly, they happened upon a dirt road that they presumed led to their destination as it had multiple different monster scents.

As the two neared what they believed the to be the village, a small group of 5 elves seem to materialize from the foliage. Three of the elves had bows drawn and trained on the duo while two dark elves stood in front, one with a short sword and the other with a grotesque, twisted mass tentacles slipping out from under her dress. Darkrai and Nikki remained still, not reaching for their weapons as to not give reason for the elves to fire.

"Not any further, trespassers." one of the archers barked. "You are nearing Enrika village. Turn around and leave, or we will shoot you through!"

"Friendly bunch, this lot." Nikki joked just loud enough for Darkrai to hear.

Darkrai shushed her before turning back to the would-be village guard. "We didn't mean to cause any alarm, we just want to come in and…"

"Silence!" The Dark Elf with the short sword yelled, "Go back to wince you came. No man is allowed to enter. The only humans allowed in the village are a select few merchants, and you don't look like you have goods to sell." She turned to Nikki with a more respectful expression, "I'm sorry Ogre, but your husband cannot come in village, only monsters are allowed to enter."

Nikki and Darkrai froze, then turned to each other. They looked at each other in the eye before blinking in unison. After which they fell to the ground in hysterical laughter.

The elven entourage kept on their guard, but looked amongst each other with confusion, unable to understand the comedy or joke from the Dark Elf's statement.

"Hus-Hus-Husband! By the First my sides!" Darkrai howled rolling the ground.

"Well, sorry husband!" Nikki wheezed at Darkrai getting his temporary attention. "But it looks like only monsters are allowed in the village!"

The two began roaring with new vigor at that, Nikki kicking her legs in the air while Darkrai rolled, both cackling the whole while. The elves loosened their bows strings, still very confused while the Dark Elves cautiously made their way closer to the odd duo.

The two attempted to remain composed but were obviously interested in what joke was made. "What are you two laughing at?!" The short sworded, silver haired elf demanded.

The two attempted to compose themselves as they stood up still laughing, leaning on each other for support. Wiping the tears from his eyes, Darkrai turned to the Dark Elf. "We're sorry about that," Darkrai wheezed, "it's just that you were so far off, it was comical."

The Elf narrowed her eyes at the boy, "Off? What was off about what I said? Why else would a male be with a monster?"

"Well first off," Nikki cut in finally semi composed. "There's no way in hell this scrawny kid would be my husband." Darkrai gave her a glare and a low growl for that one. "And secondly…" She looked over at the glaring boy, giving him a teasing wink. "Do your thing."

 _"Scrawny boy can still kick your ass…"_ He mumbled earning him an amused chuckle. Darkrai met the awaiting Elf's eyes. He stared into her brown eyes, and watched her expression fluctuate as the blue of his iris were slowly conquered by a glowing ruby hue and as his fangs slowly extended. Of course, he stretched out the duration of the change for added amusement. At the end, he ran his tongue leisurely across his grin. "This, my tan friend, is why we were rolling on the ground a minute ago."

The archers began murmuring to each other, obviously surprised about the showing of a young male Vampire. The other Dark Elf didn't seem as impressed as her companions however. She walked up to him, letting her long black, lacy dress cover the tendrils as she strode confidently, giving off an air of pride. As she reached him, she leaned in and sniffed the air around him. As she pulled back, she scoffed and gave the pair a snide look. "Amusing trick child. But changing your appearance is nothing more than that, a parlor trick." She taunted degradingly. She then waved her hand over her face, changing small features and her eye color to prove her point. "Anyone with a small understanding of magic can do something so simple."

"Not to mention," she continued, "You don't smell like a monster. You certainly have a few scents clinging to you, but none of which are yours. You smell of animal blood and dirt, a common human hunter scent."

Darkrai's eye twitched, blood rising from her demeaning tone. He glared at the Elf who continue starring down pompously. Darkrai breathed out slowly, attempting to claim his nerves. The Dark Elf chuckled, knowing she was getting to him. "But I will give it to you, humans capable of magic are quite rare. How about I make you mine? Your seed would be excel…"

Darkrai's arm shot out and gripped the Elf's neck before she could finish and hoisted her into the air. His eyes were now burning red with anger, even his nails grew slightly longer and sharper causing him to draw tiny beads of blood from his grip.

Her eyes shot open, stunned from the speed the boy grabbed her and shocked at his inhuman strength. She gasped while kicking her legs, attempting and failing to fill her lungs. She looked down at the boy, confusion and fear evident in her eyes.

Darkrai gave a wild grin, staring at her with a devilish look. "You want to make me yours?" He hissed. "Well then. Lets see the quality of the meals you'd give your husband." He quickly brought her close and bit down on her neck before she could react.

The others, saved for Nikki who gave an approving nod, all looked on in horror, not making a move or firing their bows, worried about injuring their ally. The silver haired Dark Elf made a move to help the other but was block by Nikki, who gave a huge grin looking down. "Yeeeaaahhh," Nikki started, "Naw, you're good riiiiight here moonshine. But I'll admit, that surprised me the first time I saw it too." She finished by throwing her thumb towards the scene bellow.

The silver haired Elf watched helplessly as her blonde haired, corrupted sister was slowly drained, knowing that she could do nothing against the towering ogre. Though the blonde haired elf didn't seem to be trying to escape. In fact, she wasn't struggling at all but clinging onto the boy, breathing heavily with the occasional moan escaping her lips. This, of course, greatly confused her sisters.

When Darkrai had his fill, he dripped his fangs out with a satisfied sigh, then dropped the Elf onto the ground into a trembling heap. Her eyes were rolled upwards and she was drooling, occasionally twitching with a lewd, satisfied smile wide across her face. The fire eyed vampire looked down, licking the remaining crimson off his fangs. "Pompous bitch." Was all he said before walking to his place beside Nikki in front of the wide-eyed elves.

"So." Darkrai said, making all the elves snap their attention from the one on the ground to him. "Can we come in now?"

The archers drew their bows and aimed at the pair again and the remaining Dark Elf pulled her short sword into a battle stance. Nikki and Darkrai in turned drew their weapons and readied themselves. And that way they stood, tension heavy enough to cut through with a butter knife, waiting to see who would make the first move.

Said tension was quickly cut by a curt, yet demanding remark, "What is going on here?". At the sound of the voice, all the elves put their weapons away and gave a polite bow to the newcomer. Darkrai and Nikki eyed each other questioningly before following suite. They rain checked the bow though.

The silver haired Dark Elf ran to the newcomer and started talking to her, presumably about what had just transpired. Darkrai took the opportunity to look over the new girl. She had long, bright blonde hair that rode past her hips, and a thin, fit figure, deep blue eyes. Her outfit was a mixture of greens with gold detail and an opening tastefully revealing part of her chest, all tied together by a red gem broach and topped off by a resting bitch face. Darkrai and Nikki gave a low whistle, appreciating the beauty. "She kinda reminds me of Luci." Nikki whispered to Darkrai. "But more…luscious."

"Oh, hell ya." Darkrai agreed quietly. "12/10 bombshell."

After the elf finished talking to the so called bombshell, she made her way to the duo. As she made her way to them, she glanced at the blonde elf who was now in a blissful sleep. When she stood in front of the two, she eyed them up and down, seemingly gauging them. After she was content with her observation, she gave a small chuckle. "A Vampire and an Ogre." She stated casually. "Not a common sight on this continent."

The two blinked at her statement, expecting a question on the very…content dark elf. "Well, we aren't from around here actually." Darkrai admitted. "Though I imagine you've already figured that out."

The girl nodded. "I figured as much. Though I must admit, I am surprised to see a male monster here. You are quite a rare breed. I imagine that is why my friends took such hostility towards you. None of them have seen a male monster before. I apologize for their actions, this is supposed to be a place where our kind can live in peace." The women said giving an apologetic bow.

"No no no! It was partly my fault for getting aggressive that quickly!" Darkrai exclaimed, not expecting such a presence to bow. "I should have just fed from my friend after I claimed to be a monster."

Nikki flinched, then quickly looked at Darkrai and gave him a dirty look. "And let you do to me what happened to that poor sod and Kali? Yeah, no, wouldn't have happened." Nikki retorted defensively.

Darkrai gave her a low growl which was returned by a glare from her. They broke their glare as the women chuckled behind her hand, gain their attention. "You two are good friends, aren't you?" She accused to which both nodded still glaring at eachother. She gave a brief smile before realization seemed to dawn on her. "I'm sorry, I haven't even given my name yet. I am Micaela, head of Enrika Village. You are…?"

"Darkrai Kai, son of Lucine Scarlett Thana. Pleased to meet you." Darkrai replied with a polite bow.

"I'm Nikki Crack'Jaw, daughter of my mom's snatch …nice to meet ya." Nikki said with a welcoming smile.

Darkrai stared at Nikki incredulously. "Crack'Jaw? That's really your last name?"

Nikki shrugged with a smile, "Didn't like my mom's last name so I made my own couple decades back. It's Kali's last name too."

"Well it's nice to meet you both." Micaela chuckled. "Why don't you two come and have some tea? I'm sure you didn't come here just to get a meal out of Marion over there, though I'm sure she didn't mind." She offered gesturing towards the blonde Dark Elf who was now being carried back to the village by the prior entourage.

The two gratefully accept and followed Micaela to her house. Walking through the village, Darkrai earned many onlookers. Looking around, he saw many elves and women who he couldn't determine their race. Though there were plenty of other types of monsters around like Minitours and a few Insect types. Overall, it was a very diverse community. Though, as the silver haired elf implied (who they learned was named Lona), there were no humans.

After they reached Micaela's house, she made tea before they all sat in her living room.

"So, tell me," She began. "Why did you two come to Enrika?"

Darkrai took a sip of his tea before starting. "My friend here was looking to get a charm made for her and her sister so they could seal their monster forms to go in cities and such." Darkrai explained. "We didn't know anyone with that kind of magic on this continent, but I heard from a Blacksmith in Iliasburg about this village so we thought we'd check it out."

Micaela nodded in understanding. "I can understand your dilemma. It isn't easy for monsters here on this continent, being the focal point on Ilias's followers." She finished the last part of her sentence with spite. "Well, you'll be pleased to know that we do have a few mages here that will be able to help you with those charms. It won't be cheap, but I can guarantee the quality."

Nikki's countenance quickly lit up at the news. After getting the mages names, one of which being Marion, she left to place her order, leaving Micaela and Darkrai alone. Micaela turned back to Darkrai, obviously having more questions.

"So where did you two come from? There aren't many places where someone like her can live openly." She inquired

"Believe it or not, we live in Ilias Village." Darkrai admitted.

To that, Micaela eyes widened in disbelief. "Ilias Village?! You and her live IN the village where Ilias's temple, the place nearly all Hero's pay homage, to get baptized?"

"Well I live there with some friends. Nikki, her sister and Lime live in a cabin about a 10 minute walk from the villages edge…Oh, Kali is a hobgoblin and Nikki's sister and Lime is a slime."

"You four are in a very dangerous area." Micaela warned. "All of the hero traffic in that area might get you killed! Why don't you four come here? There will be no danger and you'll be among your own kind. And I can't imagine you are more than 15. Such a dangerous place is nowhere for a child of your nature."

"I appreciate the offer, but funny enough, the family I'm living with made me the same one." Darkrai replied with a chuckle. "Plus, we've all grown quite fond of them. Not to mention, we'd hate to see Luka and Lucifina saddened by our leaving. But thank you, you are very kind to worry."

Darkrai took another sip of his tea after giving a bow of appreciation, not noticing Micaela's eyes were now the size of dinner plates. When he looked up to continue, he stopped after seeing her face. "Is something wro…"

"Luka and Lucifina?" She asked in almost a whisper.

Darkrai blinked. "Um, yes? Do you know them?"

Micaela simply stared at him before shaking her head briefly to regain her composure. "Goddess, coincidence is a funny thing, isn't it?" She said to no one.

"Pardon?" Was all he could manage to say while raising a brow.

Micaela laughed at Darkrai's reaction. "Lucifina is my sister and Luka my nephew."

"Ooohhhhhh", Darkrai hummed in understanding before sipping on his tea…Before promptly spitting it all over the wall.

"WAIT, WHAT?!"

* * *

Finally back folks! Only took me 2 months and a little! (My B). I won't make excuses for my absence, they are all made up anyway. I just got lazy for a bit cause I was stuck with what I was going to do. Again, my B. HOWEVER! There will only be two maybe three more "Origin Chapters" before the story we all know and love begins!

Soon you'll realize why MGQ Requiem has Requiem in the name (Yeah, I didn't put it there to sound cool, it has a purpose! ... [it also sounds really cool]).

Few Notes

\- I have fixed up the other chapTers a little in the grammar and spelling department

\- Finals finish May 5th sO I shoUld be uploading more regularly after wards (Can't joke this time...Hopefully...inbox me hate messages iF I Let up too way mUch)

\- A Few lore changes have been tweaked For reasons

\- Darkrai will now refer to his scYthe wiTh mAle pronouns [if not fIxed when this is reLeased, I will fix them before the next chapter]

\- Darkrai adopted Adamant's last name (will explain later)

\- Possible change to Luka's or Darkrai's age (not determined yet)

\- Will most likely be doing a pole to determine whether Lucifina should live or die (No major effect on the main story until near the end of MGQ's Chapter II or Beginning of Chapter III, will explain more if I launch a poll). Will also change some of the core dialogue between Alice and Luka, maybe even their relationship and end game.

*** BIG NOTEs ***

\- If anyone is interested, I will want to see what monsters don't appear in MGQ vanilla that you guys want to see in this fanfic. I will not notify you if they will be used or not, but you will get credit in the chapter or side story it appears in! Not sure if that last part matters to any of you, but I still wish to show my appreciation!

\- Side note, if you give me a scenario how they meet that would be lore friendly, I might use that as well

\- This could be past, present or future mind you. Even in times where there are leaps in time (The 10 or so years that will pass after Lucifina [Dies/Lives])

\- I am trying to determine if I should switch the story to Darkrai's point of view (First person), rather than third person limited which I am currently using. I won't open a poll for this one, just write in the reviews or pm me personally and I will keep a tally. Should I switch and you guys don't like it, I will rewrite the chapter back to TPL. However, I will not change the first 4 chapters to first person until I finish the first chapter of MGQ (So not until after Gnome is obtained).

\- I could also write a short, trial chapter so you have an idea

Thank you all so much for following MGQ Requiem! As always, please leave a review with what you like and dislike about the chapter or fanfic as a whole. All criticism is welcome, and will make the story more enjoyable for you the readers!

ArmoredDiclonius


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Glimpse of Fates

Monster Lord's Castle

A soft breeze drifted aimlessly through the dimly lit catacombs, causing the torches to flicker over the marble interior and dance with the lost draft. Through their ballet, a lone figure's silhouette matched their moves as its owner stood silently over an elaborately decorated sarcophagus. The man's long, silver hair swayed gently with the breeze as his pale, slender fingers delicately brushed over the finely embroidered lid as if it would shatter at his touch. His eyelids hung low over his dull, crimson eyes as he reminisced over a few good times with the casket's owner her and he shared, and mourned over the times that would never come.

He closed his eyes and began humming a tune the two had enjoyed. One which she had used to lull him to sleep as a boy to chase those horrible nightmares away. One which the mere memory of would submit him to tears…if he was able to shed any. His humming cracked ever so slightly as the tune resonated off the cold walls. Echo's which tempted him to believe that someone was there with him.

As the song concluded, the harmony ended, settling the crypt back into silence. He kept his eyes closed for a few moments longer, just until the echo's ceased their whispers. As the man slowly opened his eyes, still trained on the same spot as before they shut, he felt a presence behind him. He needn't turn, as he was familiar with the new arrival and appreciated her being there. After all, she knew his pain better than most. She was closer to the departed than even he was.

The kitsune gave a sad sigh, "Adamant," she called in a melancholy voice, barely louder than a whisper, "She left us six years ago. These late-night visits need to stop. It's not healthy. Besides," she walked beside him and place her palm softly on the golden surface, "she would be heartbroken to know she made you feel this way."

Adamant eyes never moved despite the kitsune entering his peripheral. His hand however, had ceased its caress proving her words struck. She gave a weary smile as the two of them stood there in silence.

"Does it ever get easier for you, Tamamo?" The vampire asked in a cold, monotone voice. "Watching one's you love die?"

She flinched slightly at his bluntness, knowing full well what he meant. "…No." She finally admitted disheartened. "Time and experience doesn't heal all wounds. But it does allow them to scar and become less noticeable, but they never truly cease."

Adamant slowly nodded, memories of hundreds of different deaths flowing through his mind. Whether they be an ally, friend…or…family…it never got easier. He lowered himself to the head of the sarcophagus and rested his forehead on its own for a few moments before turning to leave with Tamamo following suit.

As the huge, marble mausoleum doors shut with a with a load clunk, the wind died, no longer having a way in, and silence returned to the crypt save for the occasional flicker of a torch. Though the dead silence didn't last very long.

Should have Tamamo and Adamant not been so focused on the sarcophagus, they might have noticed the out of place shadow that laid within the shadow of one of the many marble pillars. The only thing to give away its presence was fact it was a slightly darker shade than the shadow it hid in. Knowing the prior occupants had left, shape began sliding along the floor, not making even the most minute of sounds as it made its way to the sarcophagus the two had been standing over earlier.

Reaching its target, the black blob began to bubble and convulse as it slowly gained shape and mass. After a few moments of this, the prior blob was all but dissipated and in its place stood a humanoid figure wrapped in a dark blue, long sleeved robe that hung to the floor with a cowl that hung past its forehead, casting a seemingly impossibly dark shadow over its face, preventing any features from being seen save have for a single, red light that broke through the abyss where its right eye should be. Other than sideways black eye that adorned the sleeves of the robe, the outfit had no remarkable features or designs.

The being looked over the ornately decorated coffin, admiring the craftsmanship and care it must have taken to create such masterpiece. Its design was that of a sleeping liama with her hands resting on her stomach with a single rose in its hand and her long tail coiled underneath. Simple of a design as it sounded, what made the piece so impressive was the detail put into it. If others wouldn't have known better, they would say that it was it was just a liama with a gold paint covering her. But the lip of the lid and lock attaching it to the base would have given it away.

The being having had sated her curiosity brought out a black crystal and hovered it over complex lock. The crystal began to give a low hum as the mechanisms began turning. Not long after, the a loud clunck rang through the crypt as the lock gave way and the magical seals came undone.

The being, knowing it only had a few minutes to work before the crystals power was out, threw out its gloved hand over the sarcophagus. Streaks of shadows began riding the sides of the casket until they reach the sides of the heavy golden lid. After a few moments of struggle, the lid finally began rising as the seemingly corporeal shadows continued their relentless struggle. Soon, the lid was raised high enough to reveal the one that was laid to rest inside its golden walls.

The being noted how the casket's owner seemed to be in a perfect state of being, not showing any signs of decomposing or of the trauma it had endured before her death. The being smiled underneath its veil, ecstatic at the state of the body.

 _A preservation spell!_ The being thought in jubilance. _Lord Lucas will be elated with this! This will save weeks off of her restoration! Maybe he'll even give me a new part for this one._ The being hummed.

Waving a hand over the body, more shadows formed and began covering the cadaver in a tight embrace. After it was fully encompassed, the shadows jumped out of the coffin and began flowing into the being's robes, leaving behind an empty golden box, the body absorbed by the shadows.

The crystal shattered, causing the sarcophagus to slam shut abruptly, the lock's gears turning and locking into place and runes glowed along the sides before disappearing into the walls of the sarcophagus.

The being's smile grew wider, almost manically so. It took all its restraint to prevent itself from breaking out into hysterical laughter from the happiness it felt swelling through its unnatural body. After all, she was in the royal crypt, and the last thing it need was for someone to hear it down there and find the 15th Monster Lords body was missing so soon after her endeavor.

Outside the South-Western Forest of Ilias Continent

* * *

The ring of steel clashing rang through the sun-kissed evening as the two weapon meisters performed their seemingly rehearsed waltz. The snow haired dancer made use of the range advantage his polearm gave him as well as his superior speed, forcing the fair haired ginger to parry and play defensive 'til she could find the occasional opening to get a jab in, forcing him back momentarily.

After ten minutes of their game of cat and mouse, the ginger fell to her back taking, her chest rising and falling rapidly.

"Damn...this body's...stamina!" Nikki wheezed in a voice not entirely her own between gulps of air.

"Oh quit your bitching," Darkrai teased, "You just need to get used to it. You can't expect to be able to sprint wearing heels for the first time. Same concept."

Nikki didn't respond in favor of filling her lungs rather than waste precious air on words.

* * *

The two of them had been doing these short burst spars for the past few hours, attempting to get Nikki more comfortable with her sealed form. She would have preferred a charm of sorts or maybe an illusion enchantment so she could keep her monster form, but she had to agree that a seal was the safest measure to camouflage her monster heritage.

To say the seal was effective would be a grievous understatement. Not only did the amulet give her a different look, but it also removed all traces of monster energy, leaving her in a pure human form. Even saying she looked different wouldn't be doing the description any justice. Her sealed form changed nearly everything about her, ranging from subtle to elephant-in-the-room-esque.

Her sealed form was slightly shorter by a couple centimeters and took her light tan in favor for a more fair complexion, barely a shade darker than Lucifina's. Her normally deep maroon hair was dyed to a light ginger with her long, crimson horns receded. Her emerald eyes turned hazel and narrowed ever so slightly, giving her a more demure countenance in place of the usual confident look. The only real side effects of the sealed form other than appearance were the reduce in stamina and her sensitivity to smell, and her voice reaching a slightly higher pitch. Slightly.

What really pissed her off though, was how her chest got smaller when sealed. She nearly sprinted back to the village for a refund after she realized that fact. Darkrai found it absolutely hysterical how she actually lost her balance from the lack of chest fat. It took her a solid 20 minutes before she could spar without nearly falling over every 10 seconds.

The seal itself came in the form of an ornate gold amulet that seemed leagues more classy than anything she would normally wear. It had a diamond shape, embroidered with sapphire like gems at each point and a large and a similarly shaped red stone at the center that gave a dull glow.

Considering the fact her normal attire consisted of a fur bra and shorts with sandals, it was safe the say the amulet wore her.

* * *

After Nikki recovered, to two decided to set up camp for the night, roughly in the same spot as they had the night prior. Micaela had offered a room for the two at her house, but they politely declined as they wanted to reach the village by sun down the next day. Plus, the jog would be good for Nikki's new form.

Once camp was set up and dinner on the fire, Darkrai perched himself on a low branch of a nearby tree and took out one of the dozens of books he had bought. After removing her seal, stretching, and giving her girls a "welcome back" squeeze, Nikki gave him an inquisitive look from her spot near the flames.

"Which book you got there?" She looked down at the large, burlap sack that seemed to be near ready to burst resting next to his normal travel pack which seemed equally full. "Actually, what and how many did you buy? I know you made some cash but damn. This couldn't have been cheap."

He gave an embarrassed chuckle while rubbing the back of his head. "Yeeeeaaaaahh," he conceded, "probably went a little over board. And it's mainly just a bunch of different books for Luka's studies. Culture, math, human and monster biology, swordplay, black-smithing, travel guides, that kind of stuff. Figured having some written material would be better than us only using references or that Temple's hogwash."

Nikki gave an approving nod before turning back to the bag. "Looks like you wanted to start your own library or something." She quipped truthfully.

Darkrai smiled at the thought, "Oh I will some day. Not all of those are books though." He admitted. "I also got some other stuff for training and the cottage, and something for the others." _Though I think Lucifina will like her gift the most._ Darkrai thought jittery.

Nikki shot him a fake frown. "You got something for them and not me?" She mock cried. "I see you, picking favorites."

"I got you 60% off that seal, I think that qualifies."

Nikki nearly burst out laughing remembering the the conversation with the Dark Elf wizard, Marion. Apparently, she felt quite bad about how she treated Darkrai, so she offered a 30% discount but doubled it when Nikki offered to let Darkrai bite her again. The pure, unadulterated lust in her eyes after she heard the offer was palpable. _Dark Elves and their_ _libido_. She chuckled.

"And the book you are reading?" She inquired.

"Dictionary." He answered curtly.

She blinked.

Then blinked twice.

Then buckled over and started howling with laughter, causing Darkrai to flail wildly to prevent himself from falling off the branch in bewilderment.

"A DICTIONARY!" She nearly shrieked. "BY THE FIRST, YOU ARE SUCH A FUCKING NERD!"

Darkrai blushed bright, not having an argument for literally reading a dictionary. "Yeah, yeah I know." He begrudgingly avowed. "Lucifina likes to tease me over my lack of vocabulary so saw this and thought it'd help."

Nikki shrugged with a vexing grin. "I may be more adept in language than most ogres, but I'm certainly no scholar but you don't see me literally going out of my way to read a thesaurus."

Darkrai wry grin. "Brain over brawn, Beefcake." He chided.

"Ooooh, snarky." Nikki shot back with a smile. After she finished most of her meal, she turned back to Darkrai.

"By the way," She began, mouth still full of rabbit, "What did you and Micaela talk about? I didn't get to hear the end of the conversation."

He put his book to his chin, attempting to remember exact how the conversation went. "Well, I haven't told you yet, but actually she threw me for a pretty big loop when she told me that Lucifina was…

* * *

"YOUR SISTER?!" He shouted in pure shock.

She didn't answer immediately, partly due to her concentration on the dark splotch slowly dripping down her wall. She simply furrowed her brows shot him a look with hardened eyes. His incredulous expression quickly lapsed to one more bashful under her glare.

"Um, sorry about that." He apologized with a curt bow. "You caught me a off guard with that one."

The hard look remained for a few moments before she gave a brief sigh and waved it off. "It's fine, it's just tea. I'll take care of it later." She rose a brow at the boy. "But I wasn't expecting quite a reaction like that, I'll admit. Why such a ludicrous response?"

"Well." He began. " If you are her sister and you live in this village for Monsters, theeeeeenn…"

Her eyes quickly widened at his statement. She covered her face as she gave a long sigh. "I made a small lapse in judgement with that one. Since the damage has already been done and I know you'll ask, yes, Lucifina and I aren't human and no, I won't tell you what we are. And I'd beg you not to tell Lucifina I told you nor ask her yourself. It's been kept a secret for a reason."

Darkrai, regaining his composure, simply nodded slowly. "I knew she used to do magic, so I just thought she was a witch or mage...but to know that she's a Monster…"

"I never said she was a Monster." Micaela cut in. "And again, I'd implore you not to dwell on it."

He simply shrugged, "Regardless of what she is, I don't care." At her quizzical look, he continued. "She's been good to me and everyone else. No matter the reason she has for hiding who she really is, it means nothing to me, and I doubt it would for the others." But as he thought about it… "Wait...but, Luka seems like a perfectly normal human even if he seems to heal a bit fast. Sure, I can't sense or smell anything abnormal about Lucifina, but I'd think Luka wouldn't know how to hide his magic like she does."

Micaela gave him a thoughtful look before speaking. "I believe Luka is mostly human." She stated, "I have no doubt he will one day be able to tap into his latent blood, but for the next few years, it should remain dormant...though…just to be safe…" She trailed off before rising then walked to an adjacent room. Darkrai heard her opening and closing a few drawers, shuffling through them. After a short while she strode back into the room holding a small, pale box, handing it to him before sitting back down. He opened the box to reveal a small, iron band with no discernible features.

"Give that to Lucifina and tell her it's from me." She instructed. "Until she see's fit to teach him how to properly manage his magic, that ring will keep it dormant. I was going to bring it to her myself in the near future, but this makes things...simpler."

* * *

"...after I agreed, she pretty much shooed me to out so she could be alone with her thoughts. So, I decided to go to the market, met up with you and, well you were there for the rest." He finished.

Nikki gave a low whistle. "Wow, now ain't that something." She mused. "Always knew Luci and Luka were unique, but damn. Gotta admit though, the secrecy adds to the experience."

"Aye." Darkrai replied. "And I hope it goes without saying that we don't tell Kali or Lime. Love em to death, but they can't keep a secert worth crap. Remember when we told them about the surprise test for Luka to prove he wasn't studying plant life?"

Nikki snorted, "Yeah, you were up all night writing a new one when they told him! But no, I get it. This will stay between us until...or rather if Luci decides to talk to us about it."

Darkrai gave an appreciative nod. "Thanks Beefcake. And don't worry, I'm sure she'll tell use eventually."

Nikki gave him an amused smirk. "Sticking with that pet name are we?"

"Its more innovative than Vampy." Darkrai replied with a wry smile.

"Well I guess that's true...snowflake." She replied with a smirk of her own.

"Oh please don't call me that."

"Too late! I'll right it in a stone tablet tomorrow."

All he could do was groan.

* * *

The sound of wood striking echoed through the forest as the young, purple haired boy struck the dummy for the 300th time today, ending his daily routine. Luka fell to the ground, staring up at the magenta laced clouds as his chest rose and fell at rapid pace. The light breeze caused the trees around him to shiver and felt heavenly on his heated, sweaty body.

Normally around this time, he would wish for the sweet release of death due to the fatigue and soreness he had felt not but a month ago. But now, it was more of a numb satisfaction, proof of his progress...not that it didn't hurt like hell mind you. He was just used to it.

Even as young as he was, he knew that he was improving faster than most his age. Hell, he was probably improving faster than most people 5 years older than him. And that wasn't arrogance or pious talking. His mother and Nikki have stated their surprise many times in his ability to learn and even Darkrai has been impressed with his progress. He was developing both physically and mentally at an incredible rate for a 9 year old.

As he lay there smiling and sweating, a blue figure slowly bent over him with a huge smile of her own. "You were amazing today Luka!" The easily impressed slime chimed. "You didn't drop your sword or fall once!"

Luka smiled back, too tired to say reply. Lime took note of that and giggled, used to him being this tired for the first couple minutes after his work out. She looked over the boy and gave a concerned look.

"Are you sore?" She asked cocking her head slightly. He simply nodded.

She furrowed her brows while she thought, trying to think of something non lewd or sexual (as per Darkrai's instructions) that she could do to help. Last thing she wanted was to scare him off or ruin all the trust she's worked so hard to earn over these last few months. After looking up and down his sweat soaked body, she came up with an idea.

"Hey Luka? Do you want me to give you a massage?" Luka looked up at her quizzically. "I heard from Kali that they really help loosen you up after a workout! And I wanna help!" She exclaimed in a determined voice and stars in her eyes.

Luka seemed to give it a brief moment of thought, but nodded soon after.

The literal second Luka nodded, Lime was airborne and and descending rapidly onto the small boy. "YAAAAAY! Ima help Luka!" She screamed. Luka had just enough time for an indignant yelp as he felt her viscous body collide with with his.

At first, he was slightly wary when she started spreading her body over his, almost like a thick, jelly-like blanket but quickly decided put his trust in his friend. Not to mention her body was quite cool, feeling amazing on his still steamed body. He didn't even notice when his shirt was somehow remove and throw to the side.

After she had him wrapped from the base of his neck to the tip of his toes, she began her "massage". Luka let out a small gasp as he felt the Slime began to vibrate all over his body. She giggled at his reaction as she solidified part of her on his back slightly and began kneading it into him much like a rolling pin kneads dough. He grunted and moaned at the alien, though very pleasant, sensations assaulting him. The soreness all over his body was quickly forgotten by the Slime's expert care and tactful movements.

"How is it Luka?" She asked from somewhere. "Am I doing good?"

"Yeah," He breathed in bliss. "This feels nice." She giggled with glee in response before moving her focus to his arms and legs...

Ten minutes later, she pried herself off the prone boy's, now nearly spotless, body. The dirt, grim and grass stains had been wiped off with the only payment required being his sweat for a nice little snack.

 _He's soooo tasty!_ She thought giddy while licking her lips. She began to ask him how she did, only to find him completely passed out. She blinked, then started giggling. _He's so cute!_ She all but screamed in her head. She would have loved just to sit there watching him, but with the light slowly fading, she decided it would be best to get him back to the cottage lest she incur Luci's passive wrath.

As she was moving to wake him up, a rustling started behind her, causing her to whip around just in time to see the new comer start to emerge from the foliage. A large, eight-legged arthropod pushed her way past the few branches still obscuring her vision before entering into full view. She stood at least 3 meters tall, with a dark brown body, covered in short, slightly darker hairs that came to merge at the waist with a more humanoid figure that wore nothing but a light, green silk scarf that sat right above her generously endowed chest. Her more human half had silky, brown hair the rode down half her neck and a lightly tanned complexion. Though the most notable feature she wore was a the predatory glare she was shooting the young, sleeping child, seemingly ignorant of the monster residing beside him.

She was forced to, however, recognize the blue blob as she moved in front of the boy and a protective gesture. The Spider-Girl's look quickly twisted into one of surprise. She knew a Monster with near the boy, but would have never guessed a Slime.

"A Slime?" The arthropod thought aloud in a deep, bewildered voice. "Here?" She took a moment to shake off her surprise and switch to a more haughty tone. "Regardless, it looks like you've had your turn with the boy, so why not run along? I haven't had a good man in a long while...or boy" She finished while licking her lips.

Lime didn't so much as budge, much to the Spider's annoyance. She moved slightly closer, leering at the annoyance standing in the way of dinner. "I will tell you one more time, Slime." The spider voiced with belligerence . "Leave. Or I will use you to wash the boy down with."

At the mention of the intention to harm Luka, Lime's look hardened. Seeing this, the Spider gave an annoyed sign. "Fine. Well do this the hard way." Then she charged.

Lime stood her ground, not moving an inch from the spot she was shielding Luka. Giving the boy a quick glance to ensure he was still sleep, she returned her full attention to the charging spider who was now baring her long fangs. Almost upon Lime, she pulled back one of her clawed hands and swung with the intention of cleaving the arrogant Slime clean through. And she did.

Her arm pierced through Limes torso, only just out of reach from Luka's sleep form. She gave Lime a haughty, shallow smile, expecting to she her agonized expression, or maybe one filled the with the dread of knowing this was her end. But neither of those was what she was greeted with. Instead, she saw the snide of confidenence.

The Spider Girl senses went on overdrive in an instant, every fiber of her instinct screaming at her to get away. She attempted to rip her arm free of the jelly, attempted to jump back with all her strength, to find out why her very being was trembling in fear of the seemingly weak Slime. But the blob had her gripped. No amount of the Spider-Girls struggling so much as rippled her body.

In a last ditch effort, the panicking spider attempted to spear through the blob with her lancer like legs, only for them to get similarly suck, causing her body to unceremoniously tumble forward, bringing her face to face with the Slime. The Spider couldn't do anything but tremble at the cold look she was receive merely inches from her own fearful expression.

After staring into the spider's soul, Lime's face softened into an almost cheery look. "I just realized," She giggled through her now cheery look. "I don't even know your name stranger!"

The Spider relaxed with a sigh after hearing her tone, feeling she would be let off easy. "I guess...that's, true." She breathed in a relieved voice. "I'm Moni-"

She was abruptly cut off by dozens of teal tendrils piercing her through multiple sections of her body, most through her torso, thorax and abdomen.

"That wasn't a question." Lime stated in an icy tone.

The spider's eyes went wide at the sudden loss of air and the searing pain now shooting through several areas of her body. Slowly turning her head, so she could see the extent of the damage done. Her irises nearly shrunk to point points at the revelation while a trickle of blood formed at the side of her mouth. She turned her head in jerky motions back to her exicultioner, as darkness slowly began creeping into her peripheral. Lime gave an amused smile at the spiders countenance, before leaning in and giving a long lick along the trail of blood, causing her tongue to gain a tinge of purple.

Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes, while slowly shaking her head. "Please…"She begged weakly. "I don't…"

"Bye bye."

Lime then ripped the now purple tendrils out of the girl's body, allowing her to collapse in the newly formed pool of blood as the last of the little light remaining dissipated from her eyes.

Lime stared down, cold and uncaring as the body twitched and the legs drew in, much like that of a normal dead spider. After the twitching stopped, Lime looked over the corpse and the pool it sat in before an annoyed "hmph" escaped her. _Luka's not gonna want to come here with this laying here!_ The slime thought huffy. She sighed and gave a brief shrug. _Well if it helps luka, I'll just rid of it! I was getting hungry anyway._ She thought while slowly covering the body with her own.

* * *

"We're back Bitches!" A very happy Nikki shouted out as she burst through the door. "And we brought gifts!"

She was quickly tackled by a very happy hobgoblin, shouting her sister's name the entire way. Wrapping her sister in a huge hug, Nikki messed with her hair while carrying her to the couch, with Darkrai following suit.

Lucifina chuckled at the sisters, marking her page before closing the book she had been reading to the hobgoblin. "Welcome back you two, how was the trip? Did you find what you were looking for?" She asked in her normal, endearing tone.

"Yuuuuup", Nikki replied satisfied. "Gotta great deal on these seals too! Snowflake here got me a discount." She and Lucifina giggled at the groan he made at the mention of his new nickname. "And not that I'm complaining Luci, but what are you doing here this late? Sun went down a good couple hours ago. Something happen?"

"Oh no, well, nothing dire." She ensured to cure any worry the ogre was showing. "Luka didn't come home after sundown so I came to see how he was doing. Apparently, he was so exhausted, he passed out after while receiving a massage from Lime!" She exclaimed amused.

Both Nikki and Darkrai blinked and stared at each other, curious to exactly what defined a "Massage" from their viscous friend. Easily reading their minds, Lucifina giggled while waving them off. "Oh get your minds out of the gutter, she just rubbed him down to relieve some of his soreness." She gently chided the pair. Of course, all her phrasing accomplished was getting their eyes to grow to the size of dinner plates.

"Honestly didn't think he had it in him. Thought he'd hold on to that whole "Ilias said so" thing for a while." Darkrai admitted incredulously.

"I'm more surprised that she doesn't seem that concerned about it." Nikki breathed in a similar tone. "Thought she'd want him to be her innocent little boy a while longer."

Kali shrugged from under her sister's arm. "I mean, she lets him pretty much do whatever he wants with us. It was only a matter of time in my opinion." She explained earning conceded hums from the two.

Lucifina sat confused for a moment as she pondered how the monsters misinterpreted her words only to turn beet red and shout, "Not that kind of rub down! An actual massage!" in an adorably pouty manner before covering her face with her book, mumbling about the lewdness of their thoughts.

The three had quite the merry bout of laughing from her backlash and its effects.

"Sorry about that Lucifina." Darkrai apologize still chuckling. "But we're...well...you know…"

"Literally a species that embodies sexuality and "lewdness"? Nikki questioned sarcastically.

Darkrai snapped his fingers in agreement. "Yup, that's the one." Which of course caused another bout of good hearted laughter which even Luci joined in on.

"Speaking of Lime, where is she?" Nikki asked after noticing her absence.

"She jumped in the Spring after she told me about Luka. She said she was really full and went to sleep early. " Kali informed them. "She was a really pretty purple color too! I almost didn't even recognize her!"

Once again, Darkrai and Nikki gave each other a confused look. One that the blonde shared in earnest. They shrugged it off, presuming she caught a deer or something. Wouldn't be the first time she hunted after all.

* * *

The rest of the night was spent giving out gifts and goodies that the pair brought back and talking about the trip. Nikki, on top of the seal, had gotten kali some new clothes, some Minotaur cheese and some local candies. Kali, of course, was more interested in the food and sweets than trying her seal or clothes on much to the rest's amusement.

She even got Lucifina an outfit similar to the one Micaela wore (which was apparently an Elven design). Though this one was a light blue but with the same golden decor and red gem. Before she tried it on, she edged Kali to use the seal, curious to its effects on her as Nikki already gave a demonstration.

Kali's sealed form actually wasn't that different from her normal form, unlike Nikki's. She looked nearly identical save for her hair lightning to a Sea Foam color and her horns despairing. The fact that her huge chest stayed the same did peeve the hell out of Nikki though.

The gifts for Luka and Lime were left on the table for them to wake up too, the group figured that surprising them with the gifts would get the sleepies out of their eyes. Lime had gotten an enchanted water lily that would attach to and feed off her from Nikki and some assorted dried fish from Darkrai. Luka's, admittedly more expensive gifts, consisted of a pair of Enriken combat gloves from Darkrai and a set of arm guards from Nikki, figuring he would appreciate more training equipment. Not to mention the literal pile of books for him to study from. Those admittedly were for anyone's use, though they all knew who would be reading them the most.

After the gifts had been set up for Luka and Lime and another hour or so of chatting, Kali said her good nights and went to crash for the night. As the trio heard the creaking of the old staircase, Darkrai and Nikki eyed each other. Darkrai gave her an unassured look, but Nikki just nodded. Lucifina cocked her head slightly at the duo as Darkrai pulled a small box out of his bag and handed it to Lucifina before sitting back down next to Nikki.

Confused, Lucifina opened the box curiously. Her eyes briefly widened before snapping her head to looking at the duo with great perturbation. "How did you…" She trailed off in an astonished whisper.

"Your sister, Micaela, gave me that to give you. She said it would help Luka in the near future to keep his...latent blood in check until you teach him how to use it."

Lucifina stayed quiet for a while longer, simply staring at duo, expectant. As the moments passed, she became more and more...perplexed. After nearly a full minute of the stare down, Lucifina broke the silence.

"Why aren't you asking me anything?" She asked nearly in a whisper puzzled.

The duo arched a single brow nearly in unison.

"I thought you'd have questions? Concerns? Doubts? I doubt Micaela told you anything about our...heritage. Or about the ring. So why-"

"Because we aren't worried about it". Darkrai cut in. Luci's brows graced her forehead while Nikki merely nodded in agreement.

"I'll admit, we were...well, are curious," Darkrai admitted, "but we figure you have your reasons for keeping everything on the down low."

"If you feel we need to know, you'll tell us." Nikki continued. "You've been an amazing friend to all of us regardless of the danger it could put you in with your village. So the least we can do is trust in you."

The pure joy emanating from Lucifina's swelling heart was palpable. She was worried...no, terrified that the two would have been offended or hurt from learning she was keeping something like that from them and would demand answers, and knew if they did, the answer would lead to even worse tension, if not the complete dissolvement of their of their group.

 _And I thought I was a good judge of character,_ She chided herself with a smile.

"I promise I will tell you two everything eventually." She said earnestly. "When I find the right time to talk to Luka about his heritage, I'll tell everyone else as well. It might actually be better that way, everyone finding out at once. It may take a while before I think he's ready, years even...but I suspect you two will still be around then."

The the group all gave each other knowing smiles. They knew where they'd be. After all, where else would they prefer to go?

* * *

A sort while after, Nikki finally decided to hit the sack after noticing how often her second most fair haired friend was yawning. After a round of good nights, Nikki and Darkrai went up the stairs but only Darkrai came back down with a sleeping Luka on his back who was making small groans from being disturbed in his slumber. After grabbing his bag and a wide box, the trio headed back to the village, Lucifina holding on to Darkrai's shirt as to not get lost in the dark.

After the short, well rehearsed walk through the woods and the sleeping village, they entered the house, lit only by a few candles on the fireplace. Darkrai made a beeline for Luka and Lucifina's room to drop off the human cargo while Luci went to clean the cups she had brought to the cottage. After depositing Luka and gently placing the covers over him, Darkrai walked out with the box and placed it on the table while lighting a few more candles with the snap of his fingers.

Luci jumped slightly at the sudden noise before puffing her cheeks at the grinning Vampire before finally taking notice of the box surrounded by candles. She moved to inquire about the package but was cut off by him raising his hand and motioning her to it. She cocked her head slightly, perplexed before moving to the item in questioned. She moved it slightly as to test it only to meet a fair amount of resistance and the slight rattle of porcelain. Now very curious, she lifted the cover of the box and peered inside. Her eyes went wide and she gave a slight gasp behind a newly placed hand. Thought they softened as she reached down and brushed one the six identical Fine Porcelain cups, each resting on a similarly designed saucer before gently raising one in better view of the candles.

Each cup was immaculately designed with golden roses painted on a pure white canvas. The mouth, feet and bowl of the cup were lined with a thin film of pure gold as were the roses, with the saucers being similarly designed. Using her finger, she softly traced one of the Rose's stems as it coiled around the handle, memorizing every minute yet well defined detail. Darkrai stood in silence, warmly smiling as she looked over her gift. She placed the cup back onto one of the saucers painfully slowly as if afraid that putting even the slightest pressure would cause it to shatter.

Afterwards, she walk to Darkrai wrapped him in the biggest hug she could give, one he gladly returned in full.

"You are too good to me." She whispered warmly.

"Think of it as a way of me saying thanks for all you've done for me...and for all of us. "

After a moment, the two broke their embrace and decided to retire for the night. On his way up the stairs, he heard a sudden round of coughing which quickly turned to hacking. Nearly flying down the stairs, he saw Luci leaning against a wall outside of her bedroom, still having her fit. Though as quick as it came, it ended with her clearing her throat and tapping her chest. Darkrai moved to her but she waved him off and wished him pleasant dreams before disappearing into her room.

Darkrai furrowed his brows, contemplating what he had just witnessed as he slowly made his way up the stairs. He hadn't heard her cough that bad...ever. Though admittedly he hadn't been around for all that long so it could have just been a fit, something in the back of her throat maybe. He shrugged it off, decided not to think anything of it, unaware of the implications that small fit would lead to.

* * *

1\. Sorry for the stupidly late upload. No excuses, just been getting up to speed at my internship in Hong Kong. S'been rough. Though some good news, the complete story board has been finished! Save for any new ideas from me or readers, the story and its conclusion has been set in stone less I find a wall I run into somewhere.

More good news, after the next chapter, the pre canon chapters will be over (at least the set up, more lore stories still to come) and I will began on the group's adventure to Hellgondo and beyond!

2\. The song Adamant hums can be found in the you tub link as it will hold significance in the future of this series.

3\. Like always, please leave a review with your likes, dislikes and criticisms. All comments will assist in improving the series and making it more enjoyable!

Glad to be back!

Warm regards,

ArmoredDiclonius


	6. Chapter 6: Null and Void

**Disclaimer: I do not own MGQ or any characters from it. The only parts I own are the OC characters not seen in the original games.**

 **Legend:**

 _Italics :_ Thoughts

"Quotations": Talking (Obvious I would hope)

' _Apostrophes + Italics_ ' : Internal / Telepethic Conversation(s)

Previous Chapter's Synopsis

Having bought seals for the sisters, Darkrai and

Nikki leave Enrika to return home, but not

before Darkrai reveals the information of Miceala's

relationship with Lucifina and her non-human origins

as well as giving a strange ring to be delivered to her sister

to the duo.

When returning home, Nikki and Darkrai confront

Lucifina with the information, deciding against

telling the rest of the group, curious to as why

she had been keeping it a secret from both them

and her son. After revealing her fears and concerns,

the two assured her that the information will not

effect their relationship and even allowed their bonds

to further deepen..hopefully not for naught.

Chapter 6 : Null and Void

Seemingly overnight, the group's peaceful world came crashing down around them. First, it started with the coughing, the occasional fit that grew more and more violent until Lucifina had to ether sit down or have some kind of support lest she fall to the ground until it was over. She waved it off as allergies to the rest who warily accepted her reasoning.

Then came the fainting spells. Those are what caused the group to fully grasp the severity of her ailment. They came at random and without warning. The first time it happened, she was preparing supper and nearly cut herself with the knife she was using as she fell. Lucky, Luka hadn't left yet and was able to drag her to bed before running off to alert Darkrai, who had just left for his job, to which he flew back to the house after hearing Luka's yelling. After checking her over, he found her to have a high fever, though nothing too worrying yet and he intended to keep it that way.

He spent the first part of the week by her bed with Luka, constantly changing rags and preparing her meals rich with meats and fruits to keep her energy up. During the middle of the week, the rashes began to show up, signifying to Darkrai that this was something much worse than a fever. He removed Lucifina from her bed and carried her to the cottage with Luka close behind. During doing so, he noticed that the villagers seemed to be giving them a wider berth than usual, some seemed horrified after they saw Lucifina condition, but made no attempt to inquire about her.

As he neared the cottage, Nikki saw them coming and shouted at Kali to get a bed ready, immediately aware of the situation as Darkrai had been keeping her up to speed after she had visited to see why the three hadn't come to the cottage in a couple days.

After placing her in the largest bed and gathering some water from the spring, Darkrai had Luka, Lime and Kali take care of her so he could step outside to take a short rest to gather his thoughts, Nikki following close behind.

"What do you think it is?" Nikki asked, attempting to keep the worry out of her voice.

Darkrai gave an exhausted, frustrated sigh. "I honestly have no clue. I thought it was just a fever, but then those rashes showed up this morning."

Nikki furrowed her brows, deep in thought. "She said it was allergies, right? Don't rashes normally show up if humans come in contact with something they're allergic to?"

Darkrai shook his head. "Normally yes, but not for seasonal allergies. Besides, Luka told me she doesn't get her allergies until Fall and we still have a few months till then."

Nikki furrowed her brows harder, attempting to think of anything else that could be the cause of her blight. Darkrai was in a similar state. Neither of them were familiar with illnesses, most Monsters weren't. Monsters were overall immune to most of them save for a few magical imbalances and diseases that were related to singular species. Flues, colds, fevers, stuff like that was alien to them and they never had to treat them so why learn about them? Of course, now they wished they were more knowledgeable on the subject.

"The books!" Darkrai exclaimed before running back into the cottage. "One of them was an apothecary textbook!"

Nikki quickly followed him back in the house, nearly getting knocked out by one of the many flying books that Darkrai was lobbing behind him at frightening speeds. It didn't take him long to find what he was looking for with hope spreading across his face for the first time all week. Pulling a candle over, he began flipping through the thick book, only glancing at the symptoms before moving on to the next illness.

"Not dysentery, everything is still solid...can't be ergotism…" he mumbled while reading. "Maybe Influenza? No no no, rashes are no where on the symptoms. Pla-" He froze, his eyes went wide and his already pale skin lost all color that remained.

Nikki's knees went weak as she read the page from over his shoulder. All she could do was shake her head, praying to the First that she was misreading the page. But both of them knew this was it, every symptom was there in the order they happened. Not to mention this was one type of disease even Monsters knew of. It's kind of hard to ignore the sheer number of casualties it has claimed.

Darkrai wanted to scream, to lash out at everything in frustration, but he knew it would be pointless and make things worse for everyone, he needed to remain level headed. Nikki's legs finally gave out after reading the final few lines, and slumped, staring at the floor. Disbelief laced across her face.

"95% mortality rate." She breathed. "How could...I don't under-..."

"The villagers knew."

Nikki inclined her head towards him. "What do you mean?"

"They avoided me and Luka when we were carrying her here. I guarantee you they saw the rashes and fled. So my guess is there's a plague going around that somehow slipped our notice. I'm thinking the village's apothecary might have stocked up on herbs and remedies already to prepare."

Nikki's face brightened up upon hearing his thoughts. "So let's fucking go! What are we waiting for?"

Darkrai's expression darkened. "I had Luka go there the other day to ask for some medicine and see if the apothecary would know what her illness could be." Nikki gave him a questioning look, curious where he was going with this. Darkrai gave her a glare that sent a chill down her spine. "He said he didn't have any supplies nor did he know what the symptoms could be caused by before 'politely' shooing Luka out."

Nikki sat there still confused for a few moments before his words began to click. "They've known about the plague so there's no way that he doesn't have a some kind of supply! And bull shit he didn't know what the symptoms were from!" She shouted in revelation, now back on her feet.

Darkrai nodded slowly as Luka opened the front door, curious about the yelling. Before he could even open his mouth, Darkrai turned and began walking briskly towards the village. "Luka, come with me. We are going to pay our neighborhood drug lord a little visit." Still confused, Luka chased after and followed behind his snow haired friend. Good thing too. If he was walking along side him he would have shrunk under the unadulterated lividness seeping from the Vampire's blood red eyes.

* * *

The small, brass bell on the old door chimed, announcing the presence of new customers. Putting down his mortar and pestle, the middle aged man weaved through boxes of various sizes and cabinets in the back to reach the counter. Making his way past the drape that hung over the entrance to the back he turned to greet his customers with a cheery expression. Though as soon as he saw who had entered his clinic, it quickly twisted to one of contempt and disgust before casually leaning on the counter, cross armed.

"What do you want boy?" The man snapped in a baritone voice. "I already told you, I ain't got nothin for you and I ain't got any idea what the witch caught."

The purple haired boy seemed flustered at the comment about his mother, earning an amused chuckle from the man. However, after glancing at the expression the snow haired boy was wearing, he cleared his throat while averting eye contact.

"But, I just need some medicine for her! She's getting sicker and sicker!" The younger boy began pleading. "You must have something that can help! Anything, please!"

The man snorted while leering at the boy. "I said I ain't got nothin for your whore mother, now get out of my store you little bas-," before the man could finish his insult, he found himself unable to release any of his hot air...or feel his feet touch the ground.

" **You _dare_ insult either of them again, I'm going to turn you into taxidermy using your own tools embalming tools, fool."** Darkrai threatened icily, venom dripping from his voice.

The man stared back, wide-eyed, his feet flailing in a futile attempt to escape the teens grasp around his neck while croaking indignantly, though defiance still burned in his eyes. Darkrai was tempted to snap his neck and figure out how to make a salve or medicine himself, but Luka pulling at his sleeve with a pleading expression forced his murderous rage into submission...for now.

"Fine," Darkrai growled coldly before tossing the man to the ground. The man started hacking the moment he touch the ground, filling his lungs as fast as he could between wheezes. "Now." Darkrai began gaining the man's attention. "You are going to make us a treatment for Luka's mother, or I am going to follow up on my earlier promise."

The man seemed unfazed by his threat. "Go ahead then, do it!" The man goaded. "You'll have no way to get your medicine and the rest of us will run you out! You know damn well I'm the only one who can make anythin to help you and you can bet your asses I ain't givin you shit!"

"But why?!" Luka exclaimed distraught, moisture glistening in his eyes. "We have money, we can pay for it! We can pay extra! I just don't want my mom to die!"

The man's face reddened, vexed. "Because I fuckin said so! You outsiders get fuckin nothin!"

Luka froze. "You mean...you aren't willing to help us just because mom isn't from here?"

"And what's wrong with that!?" The man screamed. "We look out for each other here, and you and your witch ain't one of us! I hope she takes you two to hell with her when she finally croaks!"

Silence flooded the room with only a quick gasp from Luka and the man's heavy breathing audible. Luka was now on the verge of tears. He had always felt the animosity from the villagers and never understood why they felt so towards them, but to hear it was because of such a...petty and callous reason. He solemnly believed that if he was able to do enough good, or even just be a pleasant and helpful person that he could one day sway their impression of him and his mother. But with such a shallow reason being the stem of their hatred, it truly made him realize the incorrigibility of their minds.

Unbeknown to him, Darkrai was thinking the exact same thing, though much more venomously. These people hadn't even attempted to judge the characters of Luka and Lucifina themselves, yet had the audacity to label them as heretics and shun them literally without any valid reason. People who were willing to put their lives in danger simply out of kindness without compensation. Who would give the little they had to assist those who weren't even the same species. To threaten all they had worked for, the little they owned, all so a stranger didn't have to wonder around aimlessly in an unfamiliar land, knowing no one nor anything there.

The fact that these people ignored all good and bastardised them through willful ignorance made Darkrai see nothing but red.

"Luka," Darkrai said monotone. "Go to the temple and ask for help. If there's anyone in this damned village willing to help, it should be them."

Luka's heart felt like it was logged in his throat at the sound of his friends icy tone. Luka looked at the Vampire, attempting to read his expressionless face. Somehow, despite seeming devoid of emotion, the young boy could feel the inimical aura permeating from him. Luka gave the man one last look before nodding and running out the door. The soft chime of the bell signifying that the two were now alone.

The man, still undeterred despite the hostility radiating from the boy, stood and glared down at the boy. "Well? What are you going to do now brat?" The man sneered. "You ain't getting shit from me, nor from anyone else here. I bet you even the priests will tell the bastard to fuck off. Why don't you leave and chase after your bitch and I might not tell the others that you two came here to threaten and rob me?"

Darkrai didn't respond, but casually walked to the man until they were toe to toe. The man gulped and seemed slightly perturbed but held his ground. That made it easier for Darkrai to grab the man's head and bash it into his knee.

The man attempted to grab his now broken nose, slightly dazed, only to have his arm seized before being heaved over the counter, sent tumbling into the back room and into a cabinet, causing multiple different jars and small containers to fall and shatter on and around him.

Before he could stand up, Darkrai seemingly materialized in front of him, kicking him in the side of the head, hard. The man was sent to the floor, bashing his forehead on the hardwood before being lifted and tossed like a dirty rag across the room, onto his work table. He attempted to let out a cry as he felt shards of glass and various different sharp tools pierce his back, but all that came out was an unflattering gurgle. The man lay there, not daring to even try and move less he force the offending objects deeper. Darkrai, however, did not share his concern as he threw the man on the floor, back first. He tried to scream out in pain, but his mouth was gripped at lightning speeds before being hoisted off the ground, causing the inside of his cheeks to be burst open from the pressure.

Battered, bruised and bleeding, the man couldn't even flail to try and break free from the agonizing grip. He simply hung like a marionette with its strings cut as he stared into the cold, red, predatory eyes of the seething teen. The boy narrowed his eyes and strengthened his grip, further tearing open the wounds in the man's mouth with the man's only reaction being a pathetic whimper.

" **I told you what would happen if you insulted them again didn't I?"**

The man continued to stare into the blood red eyes in newly acquired horror, a warm splotch dripping down his back...as well as the front of his pants. Darkrai looked at the man in disgust before throwing him to the floor again and placing a firm foot atop his chest.

Darkrai couldn't help but admire his handy work. Blood dribbled out of the corners of the man's torn lips with the area around his nose a mixture of grotesque purples, reds and greens. Only one of the man's blood shot eyes were open, the other swollen shut and his head was laced with small cuts from the glass. His clothes were ripped and stained in blood and whatever liquids were in the jars with his back, he imagined, being in the worse shape. His breaths came out in short, forced, liquidy wheezes. Darkrai chuckled darkly, content with his thrashing.

Darkrai leaned his head closer to the man's, applying more pressure to the leg on his torso, forcing the glass further into his back. Darkrai's eyes began to glow as he stared into the man's eye. "Now, you are going to make me as many different remedies, treatments and herbs that you know of, give them to me, then you will forget any of this ever happened. You will close shop until midnight, then make noise so it sounds like you are fighting someone, break a window, and tell everyone that you were robbed by a man wearing black clothes."

Then man relaxed under the teen's glare, forgetting the pain and fear he felt not moments ago. "Yes." The man said robotically before wobbly standing and limping to gathering the things he needed. Luckily, nothing that was broken was needed and he got to work shortly after gathering an assortment of herbs, jars and other plants. His movements were sluggish and forced, both from injury and from the invasion of his free will, though he still moved with the expertise of a man devoted to his craft. Darkrai hated with burning fervor to compliment the man, but he had to give credit where credit was due.

After putting away the several medicines and jars in his travel bag, Darkrai reaffirmed his orders to the charmed man before turning the makeshift sign in the window to "Closed" and exiting the building with a satisfying "ting" of the brass bell.

Darkrai was now in a much, much better mood. He had the medicine, beat the ever living shit out of a bigot and had confirmed that his magical training was coming along nicely. If it wasn't for Lucifina's condition, life would be good. But he had an idea how to fix that. With this medicine, it only made his original idea a lot more realistic to implement. He continued towards the temple, humming a happy tune.

He was halfway up the staircase to the temple when he saw Luka walking down, looking very...broken, de-attached to the world around him. Darkrai's expression hardened, tempted to give an encore to his earlier performance to whatever SOB put Luka in the state he was, but more pressing concerns called his attention.

Luka didn't notice Darkrai until he put a hand on his shoulder, not realizing he had passed him. "What did they say Luka?" Darkrai asked, curious to what could have destroyed Luka the way they did.

Luka looked up at his fair haired friend with a soulless expression, then threw his arms around his waist before breaking down into an hysterical fit. Darkrai quickly wrapped him in his own embrace, attempting to shake off his initial shock while soothing Luka. "They...they told me th-that this was a test from Ilias!" He croaked between sobs. "That m-mom's sickness is-is a test of faith! They...they aren't gonna help! Th-They are just going to let her die!" Finishing, he began bawling with greater vigor into his friend's chest.

Darkrai hugged Luka tighter, leering at the priest who was watching from the top of the staircase. Darkrai felt his fangs push against the back of his lip, screaming to dig into the man's throat and rip out his jugular and watch the light fade from his eyes...but once again, there were far more pressing matters to attend to.

"Forget them Luka, we don't need the church's help." Darkrai pressed. "After all, I was able to...convince the Apothecary to make us some medicine for Luci."

Luka's head sprang up, desperation quickly being replaced with hope. "You mean we can save mom?!"

Darkrai lifted Luka, causing the boy to give a surprised yelp. Darkrai gave the boy a wink. "Was never an option not to, I don't intend to lose a third...nevermind." Darkrai said before launching from rooftop to rooftop towards the cottage, ignoring the occasional protest from their tenets.

* * *

The two burst through the front door, startling Kali who was making some kind of soup over the fireplace. Darkrai flew up the stairs while Luka rushed to the kitchen to gather the materials Darkrai had asked for on the way.

Nikki heard the door open behind her, but didn't have time to turn as Darkrai was already beside her, rummaging through his bag without so much as a how-do-you-do. He did take note, however, that Lime had encompassed Lucifina on the bed, only leaving a portion of her face uncovered. Darkrai blinked and shot Nikki a questioning look.

"Lime's keeping her temperature down. Good thing too, I don't think a human's body can survive long at the temperature she was at." Nikki informed the confused Vampire with a grimace. "Apparently, she can regulate her own temp as long as we keep giving her water every couple hours, though I think it puts her in some kind of trance. She hasn't said a word since she started."

Darkrai had to give it to the slime, that was a brilliant plan. He didn't realize she had that kind of ability. Though now wasn't the time to be amazed, he had to work to do. Not long after he had gotten all the medicines, herbs and jars out, Luka had brought the water, bowls, spoons and rags he needed. Following the instructions the charmed Apothecary had given him, he began preparing the medicine. The result was a greenish-brown sludge, pungent with the smell of herbs.

"Hey Luci," Darkrai whispered, "Are you awake?"

"Hmm?" She grumbled, eyes weakly fluttering open, "Oh. Hello Darkrai." She called with a weak smile. "I didn't hear you come in." Luka moved beside the bed, allowing her to affectionately place a slime covered hand on the boys head.

Darkrai raised the wooden bowl to her mouth and motioned her to drink. "Here, me and Luka...bought some medicine from the village. This will help boost your strength."

She gave the offending sludge a small sniff before drinking the mixture with an unamused expression. Probably tasted about as good as it smelled. Thought that wasn't the end of the her medication.

* * *

By the time the group had finished making the medicine for the next week, the sun had set and the crescent moon had almost finished her assent. Luka had fallen asleep next to his mother, Kali had crashed shortly after sunset and Lime was still wrapped around Luci leaving Nikki and Darkrai to take turns supplying her with spring water.

The two left standing, or rather sitting, were around the fireplace, watching the shadows cascade and flicker across the floor while using their moments reprieve to tend to their weapons. With all the chaos over the last week, they hadn't had the chance to tend to their companions.

"Why does it feel like you and me are always the last ones asleep but the first one's awake?" Nikki joked.

"Well, probably because we are." Darkrai chuckled. "Save for Luci. Girl's normally up, made breakfast, hunted boar and saved a child before I even have my pants on."

Nikki gave a dry laugh. After a few moments of silence, she froze mid wip and looked up with a worried look. "What do you think the chances are of her getting better?" Darkrai met her gaze inquisitively. "I mean, you read the book. I don't mean to sound pessimistic...but...I don't want to get my hopes up just to see them die with her."

Darkrai continued to stare at her crestfallen form. When he had announced he had the medicine, she seemed to be glowing with joy, but in just a few hours doubt crept its way back into her mind. It wasn't only her ether. Everyone was overjoyed at the sign of a new hope. But that little seed in the back of their minds never fully left, and soon everyone but Darkrai had sulked back to depression. Luckily for all of them however-

"She'll make a full recovery." Darkrai said warmly, causing Nikki to snap her head so fast he was sure she had whiplash. As priceless her incredulous expression was however, Darkrai owed her an explanation.

"Honestly, the medicine itself wont do anything except help gain back some strength. It won't cure the plague, if it did, there wouldn't be a 95% mortality rate. However, as soon as her body gains enough strength that I'm confident it won't overwhelm her, I'll give her the real treatment."

He glanced at Nikki and could help but chuckle as she was literally at the edge of her seat. "And?" Nikki pushed. "If the medicine isn't what has you so confident, then what is? Did you find a healing spell in that training book of yours or something?"

He didn't respond. He simply sat and smiled while cleaning his scythe, much to her irritation. She was prepared to shout at him, the anticipation nearing to much to bear but he made a small incision on the tip of his index finger, silencing her in confusion and concern. A single bead of blood formed on his fingertip which he presented to her and smiled. Everything clicked at that moment.

"Your blood." She breathed. He nodded. "Of course! Vampire blood! Second only to Merrow and Mermaid blood for rejuvenation! DARKRAI YOU'RE A GENIOUS!"

He gave a hearty laugh at the complement. "It was always my plan to give her some of my blood." He confessed. "I should have given it to her when she started fainting but I thought it was only a flu. By the time we figured out it was the plague, I was worried that she was too weak to handle it. Even if she has monster heritage...or whatever else she could be, it's been sealed through whatever means so she's completely human right now. Her body would react to my blood accordingly and reject it. Her body's initial rejection of it while she is as weak as she is would have killed her. So I needed to get her strength up, which is why I have her on the diet she's on. But now, probably in three or four days she'll be strong enough for it. And by the end of the week, she'll be at 80% or at least near it I'd wager."

Nikki fell back onto the sofa with a long, relieved sigh, the tension melting away from her body. "Praise the First." She breathed. "I was so scared we'd lose her."

Darkrai nodded, "That damned apothecary was certainly trying to ensure we would." He spat with a grimace. Nikki raised brow before he explained what had happened with the man in very descriptive detail. Nikki gave a predatory grin hearing the ass kicking he received.

"And he won't remember any of it? He'll honestly believe that is was some thief that appeared in the middle of the night?" She asked incredulously.

"As long as my charm was effective, then yeah. Always the chance that it won't work though." He admitted with a shrug. "I hadn't used it before. I just...used it out of instinct I guess. I mean, it's a spell all of my kind are capable of, even children, so I'm hoping it will be fine...but I don't think I'll be able to live in the village anymore. Too much of a risk to Luci and Luka. If he see's me, even at a glance it could break the charm. And I don't feel like taking that chance."

Nikki nodded understandingly. "Well, lucky for you, I'm willing to give you a place to stay here. I only ask for a gold piece every month and our butler the entire time you live here." She teased with a smile.

Darkrai scoffed at her bluff. "Oh please, you are living here because I let you. Trying to charge me to sleep under the roof I built, the nerve of some people!"

After some light hearted laughter, the two went back to toiling with their weapons, both in the highest spirits they've been in all week.

* * *

"Easy there Luci." Nikki warned. "You're still not in top shape. Just take it slow. They do this EVERY day. Missing one session isn't going to kill you."

Lucifina chuckled at her friend's wariness. "I appreciate your concern Nikki, but I'm well enough to watch my son spar." She assured. "I've been stuck to a bed for two weeks now, if I don't move around a little, I might start acting my age!"

Nikki rolled her eyes. "Oh, you have to act 30. The horror."

Lucifina blushed and giggled. "Oh you! Compliments will get you everywhere." She chided happily before continuing to the training grounds.

Nikki blinked. "But I wasn't...but...you look...how old is she?" Nikki ask in serious contemplation before chasing after the blonde.

Needless to say, the "operation" was a success. After Lucifina had shown improvement from the medicine, Darkrai began giving her a little bit of his blood everyday day. At first, she was hesitant, not savoring the idea having to consume blood fresh from the source but gave little argument under the entire groups pleading, knowing that was the only way to guarantee her health.

It was a rough first few days, her body rejected the foreign substance nearly immediately and she went into shock. Luckily, everyone was prepared with salves, medicine and Lime to prevent any serious damage. It was a...bumpy first 24 hours, and they cut it close a few times, but their devotion and dedication paid off as her condition slowly improved over the second night.

After that, it was all uphill. She slowly regained motor control, her strength started coming back, the coughing stopped, the rashes disappeared, everything went as perfectly as Darkrai had hoped. They still kept her in bed, wrapped in slime and cloth, for an extra week though. Just to be safe.

In a twist of fate, however, whatever plague Lucifina had contracted began popping up all over the village. The first one to get it, funny enough _and deservingly so,_ was the apothecary who died but days after.

With the only healer in town dead, the plague spread like wildfire. Nearly 90% of the town was infected within a week of the apothecary's death. No one had any warning nor time to evacuate. Darkrai and Nikki presumed the village would be a ghost town within the next few weeks.

With that going on, Luka and Lucifina had temporarily moved into the cottage until things quieted down. Even with Lucifina's assurance that Luka would be safe, no chances were taken. The group had gone through enough shit with her and they'd be DAMNED if they so much as _chanced_ Luka catching the plague. Though Lucifina was adamant about them moving back after the plague had run its course, to attempt to salvage whatever community the village would have left.

Luka swung his training sword at Darkrai, attempting to take advantage of Darkrai's momentary lapse in attention as Lucifina and Nikki emerged from the brush. For his efforts, his swords swished harmlessly through the air as his target moved fluidly to the left, not even looking at Luka as he greeted his friends.

"How do you keep doing that?!" Luka yelled exacerbated throwing his sword on the ground. "You aren't even looking at me! How do you know where I'm going to attack?!"

Darkrai chuckled. "You are too predictable, though that isn't really your fault. You're still a novice in sword play after all."

Luka puffed his cheeks at Darkrai while he smirked down at the boy. Nikki's sigh drew their attention however. "Snowflake, I know you are trying to make him put more effort into it, but lying to him isn't the way to go."

Lucifina nodded. "I agree. I believe it would also be a great way to introduce the Four Spirits if you explained to him about how Serene Mind works. He would be enthralled if you taught him about their respective styles!"

Darkrai and Nikki's heads snapped to Lucifina, bewilderment evident in their expressions. "You know about the Four Spirits?" Nikki asked. "And their styles?" Darkrai added.

Lucifina laughed at their expressions behind her hand. "Well of course! What kind of 'witch' would I be if I didn't know about the elements of magic?" Nikki and Darkrai conceded her point.

Luka, now incredibly confused and very curious, asked, "Four Spirits? What are those? Are they Monsters of some kind? And what do they have to do with how Darkrai keeps avoiding me?"

"They are the manifestations of the four elements, water, fire, earth and air. So not _exactly_ Monsters per say. Some people even revere them as deities." Darkrai began to explain. "Salamander representing fire, Undyne water, Sylph air and Gnome earth. As to how I avoided you so easily even when not looking at you, I could _feel_ you moving by using Undyne's technique, Serene Mind. With your strong determination to hit me, I might as well have been watching you in slow motion."

Nikki raised a brow at Snowflake. "Now that I think about it, I'm surprised you can use it at your age. It took me 20 years before I even considered using it in a fight."

He shrugged, "I had a good teacher. Besides, I'm still just a novice myself. Luka's just huge blip on the radar."

Luka still looked on confused. "I don't understand. How can water make you 'feel' me?"

Darkrai began to rub his chin, contemplating how to explain before shrugging. "I can't really explain it in a way you'll understand. I can only tell you a textbook definition. Nikki, you got something a bit easier to grasp?"

"Think of putting your hand over an open fire." Nikki began, not even need a moment to think about it. "You feel the heat on your palm. The closer you are to it the more heat you feel, the farther the less. But if you put your hand too close or if you touch a hot rock near it, you'll pull it away quickly to avoid getting burned. Same concept, you feel the rage, anger, determination, any 'warm' emotion when your opponent attacks with the intent to hit. Your body feels that "heat" where it's intended to hit and naturally pulls you away from it. That's how it works for me"

Darkrai tilted his head and pursed his lips. "That's...quite different from how I feel. I'd more describe it as seeing a light in the direction the intent to harm was coming from, varying in intensity depending on the strength of the "warm" emotion. At least, that's how I feel it."

She shrugged. "Everyone uses it differently from what I know. Maybe species also has something to do with it?"

Luka's signature stars appeared in his eyes."So it's almost like seeing the future! You predict where they would hit you! That's so cool! Can a human learn how to use it?!"

"We can learn to use any of the Four Spirits, it simply requires more dedication on our part." Lucifina chimed in. "Some Monsters are born with an affinity to a particular element, so they are more adept at using their techniques. Dragons to fire, Slimes to water, Harpies to air, goblins to earth just for a few examples. Humans however, are a blank slates, so we could use any Spirit we wish as long as we work hard enough. There have even been a handful in the past who even mastered more than one! In fact, Heinrich was said to have been able to use all four by the end of his quest!"

Now Luka was practically bouncing. The mention of his idol and favorite Hero of all time only adding fuel to the already raging inferno that was his interest. "Then I'm going to master all of them too! Maybe I'll be a great Hero like him someday then!"

Lucifina giggled at her son's display goading him on with encouragement and praise while Darkrai nodded with a smirk, both he and Nikki thinking of the new forms of training they'd have to implement in the future.

"What else can you tell me about them! I want to know!"

"Not right now Luka, me and the girls will talk later and set up create some leason for them. Right now, you are going to give me 200 overhand swings and 20 laps around the training grounds to make up for the time we lost chatting. If it takes you any longer than an 40 minutes, I'm going to add an extra 100 sit ups and push ups at the end." Darkrai demanded, returning to his instructor persona.

Luka groaned before picking up his training sword and moving to the to center of the clearing, knowing full well the punishments that came with arguing. Darkrai gave an appreciative nod before turning back to the two girls. "So what's up? Came to watch Luka?"

Lucifina smiled. "To see both of you! Not that I don't love spending time with Kali and Lime in the house, but I simply can't stand being cooped up in one place for too long. So I thought that watching you two would be a breath of fresh air."

"Well you'll be watching Luka today then, I have to catch up on my studies. Two weeks behind after all."

Lucifina looked down sheepishly. "I imagine I caused you all a fair share of problems with my illness. I'm sorry, I should have been more careful. It must have been quite a bother to deal with me."

Nikki raised a brow. "You scared the hell out of us, sure, but don't you dare go apologizing for that. Hell, I'd blame Ilias cursing you for being so accepting of us Monsters before I'd blame you."

"Besides," Darkrai cut in, "you mean too much to us to not give you our all to help. Even if it wasn't a life threatening, near impossible to treat plague, we'd have dropped everything to help you."

Lucifina's trademark smile spread across her features, proving infectious to her friends. No words needed to be said, they had made their points and her smile proved she accepted and shared them.

"198...199...2...ugh...200!" Luka bellowed meekly during his final push-up before plopping unceremoniously to the soft grass below him. Darkrai closed his training book before jump off the branch he had perched himself on and walked to the fallen boy. He reached him not before Lime had though, who was quickly stroking his ego for doing so many push ups after how hard of a training session he had done.

"Now, now. Lets not get the boy's head too big now." He chided playfully. "Less he think he's actually making progress."

Luka looked up tiredly and stuck out his tongue as his instructor/cheeky Vampiric friend, Lime giggling at the adorable display. Luka looked at lime with puppy dog eyes, his desire obvious and she was all but happy to comply. After removing his shirt, she formed her jelly-wrap and began kneading and cleaning his sore body. Darkrai rolled his eyes with a smirk before gathering all the training materials, chuckling at the boy's pleased vocalizations.

After several minutes of tidying up, Darkrai looked over to see Luka's blissful expression. "Alright Luka, that enough for now. Bring as much as you can carry back to the house, I'll grab the rest."

Lime quickly pulled off of Luka and reformed herself much to Luka's dismay. He groaned in at his muscles disapproval of his movements, but grab a pre-packed bag and headed off to the cabin. Noticing Darkrai still standing in the middle of the clearing with Lime, he have a questioning look at him.

"Just gonna talk to Lime for a minute about those lesson plans for later!" Darkrai shoated. "We'll catch up with you at home!." Luke smiled before taking off in high spirits.

After Luka disappeared into the forest, Lime gave Darkrai a questioning look before noting the seriousness in his expression, unlike one he had ever given her before. "So what happened over there while me and Nikki were gone?" He asked, motioning to a spot next to the pair. One Lime knew very well.

She stared up at the teen, squirming slightly under his gaze. She wanted to tell him it was nothing, but knew that if he mentioned it, he must have smelled her scent and the spiders girls mixed together. She relented and sighed.

"A Spider-Girl came out of the forest and wanted to take Luky while he was sleeping from my massage. I didn't like that." She said with venom that Darkrai didn't think she could possess. "I couldn't let her take Luky, so she charged me and...I kinda killed and ate her to protect Luka."

Darkrai stared at her with wide eyed for eyes, his mouth agape. Shaking his head to regain his composure, he looked at her with newfound respect. "Wow, I didn't expect that straight forward of an explanation." He admitted incredulously. "I mean, I had always known you were powerful but...from the smell of it, it didn't even seem like a battle. Just, a lot of blood."

Now was Lime's turn to be turn to be surprised. "Huh? What do you mean you knew? I thought people just saw me as a weak, cute slime?"

Darkrai looked at her with a flat expression. "Sure, any normal person would...if they hadn't studied your species in the slightest. Weaker slimes need to always be near a body of clean, fresh water or else they would die. So, you would have needed to travel on a boat to get here from Sentora with very little clean water available, make your way across the continent, find this one pure spring, all while avoiding any river or pond on the way here due to human villages already polluting them. Only an incredibly powerful slime could to do that."

Lime looked down sheepishly, disheartened by her facade being so easily explained. She looked back up to see Darkrai's now confused expression. "Why hide it? Do you not take pride in your strength? You could have easily become the apex predator around this area if you used all you power."

Lime began to twiddle with her thumbs, looking at the ground again. "I just wanted to make friends." She admitted. "Most people didn't ever come near me when I came here because they saw how strong I was. So I stopped using all my strength and became a weak, adorable slime. Even when I caught humans, I did it without using too much of my strength so I didn't make them mad and call others go hunt me."

Darkrai gave a small smile before placing a hand on her gelatinous head. "Well you don't need to hide who you are any more." Darkrai cooed warmly. "You have all of us now. Me, Nikki, Luci, Luky, Kali...we all consider you a close, dear friend. So you don't need to hide what you are, regardless of whatever strength you have. You proved that even further when you protected Luka and helped save Lucifina. I guarantee that without you, she and he would have died without you." After he finished, she quickly wrapped him in a gooey hug, one which he was more than happy to return in kind.

The two stood there like that for a few moments before Lime decided it was time to break apart. "Let's go back home, I don't want them to start dinner without us!" She said, back to her bubbly self before bouncing off.

He watched he skip off before moving to gather the rest of the supplies, chuckling at how adorable she was. He reached for the sling but stopped midway, noting that something seemed... off. Reaching for his scythe, he took a quick take on the area around him...silence. Always a bad sign.

Out of nowhere the sky darkened to a sickly green with a powerful gust that swept through the forest, throwing the remaining equipment and forest debris around in every direction. Darkrai stood, hair flailing wildly and eyes narrowed, waiting for whatever was causing such a disturbance.

Suddenly, an eerie teal flame slowly faded into existence a few meters ahead him. He couldn't help but cock his head at the odd, floating flame no larger than a standard torches. He couldn't explain it, but he felt the flame's presence was familiar in a way.

As if to answer his inquiry, the flame exploded with a blinding light, forcing Darkrai to throw up his arms to shield himself from the inferno, but to his surprise, he felt no heat. The only inclination that he was even struck was force reeling him back a few feet. Lowering his arms to gauge the possible damage, he was relieved to see that the blasted didn't seem to cause any damage to the area. Though, in its epicenter, stood...well floated, the cause of the phenomenon.

In the center of the field, floating in an ethereal blue flame which was contained by a large, Gothic styled cage was a tall, blueish-grey skinned women. She wore an elaborate, light grey Victorian styled dress that opened at her waist into a feathered cape that revealed her legs and the elaborate tattoos that rode down them. Her wavy, silver hair complimented her cold, sapphire hued eyes. Contradictory to her eyes, her convenience seemed almost playful at first glance, but had a certain malice to it. All this topped of a thorned black tiara, the same color as the cage the women stood in.

M-Madam Willow!" He sputtered shocked… and fearfully.

Darkrai stood still, reeling from the sudden appearance of the unique monster. Though, it wasn't her entrance that left him in the state he was in.

Her dark gaze bore into the shivering teen, scanning him, evaluating, judging. Relishing the effect her appearance had on him. After a few moments of eternity, a grin slowly grew on the pale woman's face.

"Hello...Little Rai." She greeted dauntingly in a high pitch, almost child like voice.

Willow. The first Willow-the-Wisp. One of the eldest and powerful monsters in existence. Ex-General of Dracula's army during the First Monster Wars. Adamant Eilif's most loyal and devoted retainer. The Guardian of Dark Sanctuary. The fucking most scary and nasty daughter of a baptized whore Darkrai has ever met in his life, was now floating in front of him, thousands of kilometers from the Castle in the last place he would ever expect to see her.

She had been his history and magic teacher when Tamamo wasn't available originally, but became full-time after the Fifteenth's death as Tamamo had to carry the burden of her work until a new Monster Lord was chosen. Willow was very strict with her work, and would "discipline" him for the littlest things (such as saying a word incorrectly, not answering a question fast enough, slouching, etc) by an array of quick, yet painful punishments.

Other than the more than occasional punishment, she was an amazing teacher at the Pre-War era, also known as the Age of the Founding, having experienced it first-hand and post war history after spending decades reading from the newly stocked library to catch up on the history she hadn't seen during her millennia long slumber. After the reclamation of Dark Sanctuary, she had corrected many impurities in written history and filled in many gaps and voided areas, such as information about the Six Ancestors that had been lost to time and even about the First herself. Though she didn't seem to remember much about the Beast's Ancestor, leaving her as the only true grey spot in Pre-War history.

Though, regardless of her demeanor, when she wasn't teaching, training or doing any of her other tasks, she was a very caring and pleasant woman. After his mother died, she had spent a great deal of time with Darkrai, soothing him and being the companion his Master couldn't be due to his obligations as an aid to the Monster Lord and as a Vampire Lord. Because of the time they spent together, when they were alone Darkrai and Willow shared a familial bond, as if she was a loving aunt, assisting him when he was having difficulties with studies and homework Tamamo would give him and assist him with his magics. Though outside of that, she was a strict and cold mentor that demanded fear and respect. And it was quite obvious what mode she was currently in.

Attempting to collect his bearings, Darkrai bowed his head and gulped. "May I ask as to the r-reason you have come so f-far from Dark Sanctuary Madam?" Darkrai asked sweating, raising his head just enough to make eye contact.

She crossed her arms beneath her chest and glared. "Three months away from Sanctuary and that is your first inquiry?" She asked icily. "Has't dwelling amongst mongrels diluted your manners? Must I discipline you so early after our reunion?"

Darkrai squealed and fell to a deep bow, shaking his head fervently. "No ma'am!" He stammered speedily, "What I meant to say was, Greetings esteemed elder! What an honor to have you humble me with your presence! May I ask as to why you travel so far from the castle to grace me?"

Her eyes narrowed, not fully satisfied but gave a small huff in resignation. "You have neglected your studies for nearly a fortnight. Lord Eilif had begun to fear the worst, so I offered to travel to this dreadful continent as to verify you were well as well as to learn of the reason for your laxity as to quell his mind." She floated down to his level, before leaning to meet his cowering face. "So...as I can death isn't to blame for your negligence, what caused you to put your studies on hiatus, hm?"

Beads of sweat dribbled down the boy's neck. "Th-there was a p-problem that arose due to an...unpredictable event." Darkrai explained purposefully vague. "I h-had to address the issue b-before I could continued with my training."

She narrowed her eyes slightly before looking towards the direction Lime had bounced off earlier. "Did this event have any relevance to the mortals you reside with?"

His head shot up. "Wait, how do you know about…"

She gave an annoyed sigh. "Did you honestly believe that you would be spirited off to this First-forsaken continent without some way of us monitoring you?" She asked peeved. "The tome you received allows us to have a very narrow perception of the world around it, should we wish to. Similar to a communications crystal, though only visuals around a small area. It also allows us to track your progress on your studies by tracking your eye movements along the pages. Hence, how we know of your negligence in that regard."

 _Well I suppose that's somewhat of a relief._ Darkrai thought, still reeling. _Hope Master has been satisfied with my progress at least...wait, but what does he think about…_

Darkrai gulped before finally rising from his bow, meeting Willow's glare. "Before I answer anything," he asked shakily. "What does mast- I mean, Lord Eilif think about my current...living arrangements?"

Willows expression softened. "His Lordship has been quite happy with the company you keep." She stated. "He shares the Fifteenth's dream, so knowing you are willingly and happily living with mong- humans, has certainly pleased him. And though we had doubts about the Monsters in your company, the ogre and hobgoblin have surprised us in their assistance with your training. You have been progressing quicker than expected due to their assistance, so our Lord has no quarrel about them either."

Darkrai released the breath he didn't realize he was holding. Willow noted his relief with a small smile. "You have become quite smitten with your current companions it seems." She said warmly before giving him a playful grin. "Hast any of them garnered your interest in a more emotional regard? That hobgoblin is quite the adorable little tot."

Darkrai shook his head fervently with a light blush. "I haven't seen any of them that way!...though I won't lie and say that I haven't had more...promiscuous thoughts about them." Darkrai admitted pressing his index fingers together.

She threw her head back and gave a hearty laugh, causing the boy's face to glow beet red. "I've always found your honesty refreshing Little Rai. But moving back to prior concerns, what caused this gap in your studies." She stated, switching back to her cold glare.

Cowering under her oppressive aura, Darkrai began to explain the events of the past two weeks. He talked about how her symptoms started showing, how he moved her, how he treated the man who stood in his way, the treatments itself, her recovery, everything. All the while, her expression never changed. Well, save for the part about his "talk" with the apothecary. She wore a pretty gnarly grin during that part of his explanation.

"...To save the life of a dear friend." She said almost as an echo."...I believe His Lordship can forgive the dereliction of your studies for such a reason. I'm sure he'll even be ecstatic to hear it was your human companion no less!"

Darkrai gave a relieved sigh. "Thank you Madam Willow, that's good to know. I would hate to disappoint ether of you. Tends to not be very good for my health after all."

She gave a rare giggle. "Well you rarely do Little Rai, take solace in that. Now, as dearly as I wish to stay and catch up with you, now that our Lord's query has been answered I should return to the castle. We are proud of your achievements Little Rai, though do keep up with your studies." The flame contained by the cage began to flare up as she began casting her spell, intent on ending their conversation there, but Darkrai grabbing onto the metal caused her to lose concentration.

"Wait!" He called desperately. " Please, I have so many questions! You can't just leave me in the dark like this!"

She gave him a glare for his defiance but quickly gave way to a yielding sign. "Tis only fair all circumstances considered I suppose." Her gazed hardened as she looked at the boy. "However I will only answer three of your inquires, I cannot spare any more time than that...though I will tell you the reasoning to your forced dispersal. That much you do deserve to know."

Darkrai's smiled in thanks and nodded. She sighed before floating to the ground and taking a seat on one of the metal pieces. Darkrai took a seat in front of her on the grass, waiting eagerly.

"The simple answer, tis no longer safe to harbor you in Hellgondo due to the Insurgents." Willow began solemnly. "We had obtained a great deal of information about their identity and objectives from a captive we acquired after a small skirmish in the western mountains.

"Taking advantage of our various...methods, we obtained three major details about their group before we disposed of her. Firstly, these insurgents are only a splinter cell of a larger group. This splinter cell calls themselves the 'Oculi Nigrum', or Black Eyes in the ancient tongue." She explained at Darkrai's blatant confusion. "Second, these sanctimonious whelps fight for disharmony between the Human's and us, believing Monsters to be the superior race that should lord over humanity as if they were cattle.

"Third, they are targeting individuals that they view as a 'Threats to the Eighth's legacy'. Our guest was charitable enough to grace us with the list. On it were many names you wouldn't recognize but are important enough to make these annoyances a much greater threat than we originally presumed. Names you would know that are on it are Lord Adamant, Tamamo, The Royal Scientists...and the entire Thana blood line."

Darkrai processed this for a moment, before his face darkened with realization. "So the ones that killed her..."

She gave a slow nod.

"And they killed her...for her support of the Fifteen's and our Lord's dream? Of harmony? Of peace?"

Her face scrunched slightly as she pursed her lips. "Yes and no. Our Lord and I presume those on their blacklist are being targeted by their influence and strengths rather views on humanity. There resides an abundance of supporters of humanity in Dark Sanctuary who are quite outspoken but not on the list. We guess that you and Scarlet were targeted because of your mother's influence in the Council and..." She seemed to contemplate her next words, biting the edge of her lip, as if she didn't know if she should continue. "...because of the Thana bloodlines Void Flare."

Darkrai cock his head slightly to the side, his rage momentarily forgotten. "Void Flare?" He questioned pressing his brows together. "What the hell is a Void Flare?"

She gave a disgruntled look, but continued. "I don't know when your training will get to it, and I'm sure His Lordship has his reasons for not teaching you about your birthright yet...but it'd be more harmful to not know why your life is targeted." She admitted, convincing herself.

"Have you ever witnessed Scarlett's use of a black flame? Perhaps you were sad or livid for whatever reason and she held a pitch colored flame to you?" He nodded, remembering an early memory of the soothing sensation of the black flame. "That, my Little Rai, is Void Flare. It is not a flame that burns you physically, but magically. Spiritually even. When mastered, the flame can "burn away" a targeted emotion by burning it from the soul. Tis' also capable of "burning" an opponent's mana and stamina, rendering them incapable of resisting or fighting, causing their physical or magical energy to become "voided", hence the name. We surmise that they view that ability as a direct hindrance to whatever scheme they've conjured so they sought your mother's life...and now yours."

Darkrai sat overwhelmed, staring intently at his hands. She gave him a moment to collect his bearings with an understanding look.

"And why send me here? Why to Ilias?" He asked, just louder than a whisper.

"Our Lord figured you would be safe here, away from the spider's web so to speak. Most of the Monsters here are weaker than those on Sentora or Hellgondo and you could effortlessly pass as a human with your natural camouflage. So we thought this wretched place would be suitable for you to continue training until you are able enough to traverse the rest of the world."

Darkrai nodded in understanding, but still seemed dazed. Willow couldn't blame the boy though. This was a lot to take in at once. Though as much as she would prefer to sit and chat with him for the rest of the day, she had other matters that called her attention. She gave a loud huff, regaining his attention.

"I droned on longer than I anticipated, so I'll keep the remaining three answers simple." She said sharply." Ask away, before I drop the courtesy I've given to you. I have places to be after all, so I'll give you two minutes to think of your other inquiries."

"Don't need to, I already have my questions." he curtly replied, pulled out of his disorientation. At her continued stare, Darkrai continued. "What has Lord Adamant being doing these past few months? If, uh, Oculi Nigrum?, has become active enough to make him cautious I imagine he's been pushing the Council for more offensive measures against them."

Willow shook her head. "Astonishing enough, no. Our Lord has insisted that we improve our defensive measures and double our reconnaissance before hunting them down. In a miracle in itself, the Council agreed 17 to 4 to his proposal even with Elizabeth spewing her usual drivel with Queen Serena supporting her." She explained, rolling her eyes at the mention of Elizabeth.

He arched a brow at that. The Council hadn't been on his Master's side regarding anything that involved the Insurgents and fought him at nearly every end after Celine was killed with him during their mission. They surmised any decision he made had some sort of personal vendetta driving it.

Darkrai gave a short hum in approval before moving on. "Have the candidates for the next Monster Lord been selected yet?"

Willow rubbed her chin in thought. "Other than the Fifteenth's child, the only ones I know with certainty are Lady Tamamo the Slime Queen. Though the royale won't be held for another seven or eight years, so other competitors are sure to compete."

 _Slime Queen?_ Darkrai thought, pressing his brows. _That was Erubetie, right? And if I remember right...she's not the largest fans of humans. By the First things could get bad if she wins._

Shaking off his distressing thoughts, he looked up at Willow solemnly. His final question was one that weighed on his mind for months. "Is Mom's grave being tended to?" he asked dolefully.

Her expression softened. "Lord Adamant has been visiting her at least twice a week. Whenever he is absent, Nami or her mother attends to her in his stead." Willow assured with a small smile. One Darkrai returned with a relieved sigh.

"Well, tis time for me to return to the castle." She said reluctantly. "I've spent far too long conversing. I do not know when we'll meet next, but I shall be watching over you regardless. Be well, Little Rai."

He smiled up at his long time teacher and friend as she rose into the air. "Thank you Willow. Say hi to everyone at the castle for me. Especially Nami! Knowing her, she must have wanted to scour the entirety of Hellgondo to hunt me down." She a chuckle and a nod as the ethereal flame from the cage engulfed the Wisp and in moment of blinding light she was gone.

Darkrai stood there, contemplating everything she said. Oculi Nigrum, Void flare, Eighth's Legacy. The last one in particular made his hair stand on end. Anyone who was willing to follow in the footsteps the that madwoman had to be put down and fast. But if Oculi Nigrum was only a cell...how many people were apart of their full group? How are they supported? Do they have any Queen's with them? If they do, how many monsters support their Queen's views or are following blindly out of loyalty?

He shook his head at started back to the cabin. None of this is important right now. As he is, if a war were to break out he'd be a little more useful than a foot soldier. What he needs to do is train, reach his peak. He needs to be a tool for his master's and Lord's dreams. He needs to be the first person that comes to mind when a difficult task comes up. An example for others to follow. A hero for the people.

...Yes...that's it! He'll become a Dark Hero! They are seen as the strongest and most highly respected warriors in Monster history! And if he's traveling Luka, it will bolster his fame among humans as well. The Hero Luka and Dark Hero Darkrai, friends fighting side by side. For the first time in history, a human Hero and a Dark Hero traveling together with the common goal of peace between Monsters and Humans. With that title and those two fighting together, protecting Luka's and his Master's ideals...yes, that might just work. Though, too be fair-

"Darkrai!" Lucifina called from the cabin, leaning out the window with a ladle in hand. "I was about to send Luka to get you you were taking so long!"

"And its Pork Belly and Fish today!" Kali sqeeled in delight, jumping up and down behind Luci. "So hurry up and come in, the smell has been driving me crazy ima bout to die from hunger ove-OWWIE!"

As he passed the window, he could see Nikki flick her sister on her forehead and chastise her for being rude as she sheepishly pressing her fingers together under her sister's stern lecture while Luka and Lime snickered at her being scolded. As he entered, they everyone made their way to the table where the plates and food were all laid out, ready and waiting on him.

He couldn't help but break into a radiant smile. His friends...his family...this new life of his.

-he now had more to protect than just ideals.

* * *

Hey everyone! This is the second to last chapter before the main story starts!

Notes:

With the next chapters release, I will be releasing a Character page with all the OC's. In it, will be their full physical descriptions, abilities, weapons, connections to different characters and a bit of their life stories. Later on, I plan on giving a few of them their own short stories, but that's far off. At least until Part 1 is over, and we are still only in the prelude.

Also, next chapter ends the prelude! I thank you all for being so patient, I know that I've updating excruciatingly slowly, but I promise I won't cut this Fanfic until I finish it completely!

As always, please leave your thoughts, comments, critique and insults in the reviews so I can further develop as a writer and make this story more enjoyable for everyone!

I hope too see you all next time!

ArmoredDiclonius


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